Apocalypse
by Riza Winters
Summary: The war is over. The Balance was lost. Worlds collided. It's the Apocalypse. Ichigo wanders lost in the broken world, until he finds someone who owes him a favour.
1. Chapter 1

Red rust dripped from the end of culvert, but it was lost in wet orange tangles. Beyond the opening, rain fell in sheets so torrential that water gushed as high as the young man's calves when a few hours ago it had been just a trickle. There was no braving that onslaught, it could kill, and likely had already killed any poor souls that had gotten caught in it.

He stepped back into the protection of the culvert and drew a tin can from his pocket. He'd been saving it, but now that he'd reached his destination he was sure he could find more food when the rain let up.

Tin scraped past tin, eager fingers dug into the pâté of meat, expired but not yet so rank he couldn't stomach it. He sucked his fingers clean then stuffed them back into his coat pockets to keep warm. Bare knees poked through ripped jeans when he huddle into himself for warmth. His coat and shirt stuck to his right side where an old rag did little to stop blood oozing from a wound. He ignored it.

He might as well sleep now since no one could come for him when the rain fell like this.

As always, his dreams took him back to other times, before the world had come to this, before he'd been reduced to living in culverts and shadows. He saw faces behind his eyelids he hadn't seen for years.

Then the nightmares got the best of him and he woke again. The rain had ended, though the sky was still dark. He stood at the sight of the looming city that became clear to him now, and made his way to the mouth of his shelter.

So this was it—the apocalypse. Never in a million years would he have thought it would have turned out like this. But here he stood as the rust rained down on him, beholding the silver sandy dunes that surrounded the bases of plazas and skyscrapers. Two worlds clashed together into one: a nightmare of his waking eyes. Darkness covered much of the city, but here and there he saw flashes of light, neon signs and blinking billboards.

It was the new age. The last age.

He stepped out under a moon he wasn't even sure was his anymore, and walked back toward the civilization he'd left four years ago.

Ichigo Kurosaki was home.

* * *

Water dripped from grey stone onto a floor puddled with worse liquids. Ichigo trudged straight through them, heedless of any stench or filth after the life he'd been living since the world officially ended.

The tunnel opened up into the large room surging with people. The sweaty, screaming mob blocked his view of the arena at their centre. Above the ring a fat man yelled obscenities, fist full of cash. Other more wealthy people were also in higher positions built up on wooden stages or on protrusions in the stone walls.

At ground level it was a mess of bodies, all shouting out their bets and waving bills. Ichigo worked his way through to the front, not enough to be seen clearly but enough to make out the figures fighting for their lives in the ring.

He had to make sure it was him, before he made his move, but the picture that had been flashing across one of the still functioning megatrons on the corners of two broken streets had been accurate. The headliner of the night had certainly made a name for himself in the dark corners of the surviving cities and Ichigo now watched him break skull against cement and the whole crowd roared in approval of the act of murder.

Grimmjow Jaggerjaques rose from the body of his opponent, bare back glistening with sweat and the wrap on his hands soaked in blood. Someone grabbed his arm and raised it up in a sure sign of his success. The fat man threw a wad of cash at the victor's feet. He picked it up, stiffed it in his pants, and left the arena, the crowds and the dead body behind.

Ichigo waited at the back door for half an hour before Grimmjow emerged, dressed and already flicking a lighter to get a cigarette going. He passed the hooded young man without a second glance.

"Not interested," he dismissed and continued walking up the bank of sand to where pavement poked through from an old overpass that joined to a main road.

"Grimmjow."

"I said-"

"It's me."

Boots came to a stop on the pavement. The interchange rose up out of the sands before him. He stood with eyes fixed forward on a tower of lights on the other side of the bridge, apartments where people still took refuge and managed to maintain some power.

"It better not be you."

"It is."

"The boy who didn't save the world, huh? I thought you'd disappeared for good."

"I left to find my sisters, not to run away."

"Well you should have run. Everyone knows who you are. Vandenreich will kill you on sight, and half the humans will too if they recognize you."

"Trust me, I know." Ichigo put a hand against the wound at his ribs. "I guess you can't be forgiven when you promise to save people and don't follow through."

"Guess so." Grimmjow took a last drag and flicked the butt into his sand. Finally he turned. "So then why are you here, Kurosaki?"

"Your name's been on billboards in every community from here to Tochigi."

"So you followed me?"

"It took me weeks to catch up to you."

"Well you've caught up to me. What do you want?"

"What do you mean? Grimmjow you're it, the only one."

"The only one what?"

"That I can find! The only other person who was in the war, who really understands."

"Oh I think everyone on this shithole world understands this is the end. We've just accepted it and decided to spend it how we like."

"Fighting to the death each night like an animal? You aren't invincible anymore."

"And neither are you!" Grimmjow skidded back down the sandy pavement and grabbed hold of Ichigo. "None of us are and that's the whole fucking point, isn't it? We're already dead."

"We're not dead, we're human."

"We're not human. We're displaced souls in a world that was never meant to be." He let him go and gestured to the mounds of sand all around them. "Hueco Mundo and the world of the living smashed together into this hellhole. Two days ago I was in an outpost of Las Noches. A year ago I saw the remains of the Vandenreich palace. So tell me what's left to do but go out smashing skulls and fucking women."

"I don't know, Grimmjow, but I'm not done fighting yet."

"Yes you are! _Fouryears,_ Kurosaki. How long will it take for you to realize it's over? The Vandenreich fucked up everything. Soul Reapers were supposed to protect the balance but they failed and now this—four worlds smashed together in a puzzle. Not a single soul with any spiritual pressure in this damned universe. And nowhere to go when you die. The cycle is broken. No more lives to be had after we use these ones up. It's the end kid, and there is no fighting that."

He was right. The cycle of life had broken that day when too many souls had been lost and with them, the balance of worlds. Urahara had always warned them that if they didn't stop the quincies, this would be the consequence. Ichigo just hadn't expected to wake up after the cataclysmic event of the universe imploding.

Instead of existence vanishing, it smashed together and all worlds landed here, on Earth. Most notably, the sands of Hueco Mundo had drowned much of Japan, and consumed Karakura entirely. There was nothing left of Ichigo's hometown. He'd lost his father in the war, but his sisters had been here. He'd searched the world for them, but for all he knew, they'd been killed the day of the Clash—the day his life ended.

Now, shambles of the rukon district could be found interspersed between million dollar mansions in surviving districts of Tokyo. Las Noches had landed on a mountain, broken apart in a million fragments but half a dozen pillars still rising out of bare rock. And most importantly, millions of souls that were supposed to be spread out over four universes were now forced together in a single sphere. There wasn't a hint of spiritual pressure left in anyone, just souls—human all of them. Even Grimmjow had no hole in his stomach nor hollow mask. And yet, they weren't really human either, because humans were supposed to have an afterlife. None of them did now. If there was no Soul Society, no reapers and no spiritual pressure, then there was no place for them to go once dead. This was it, this was the end. When they died, as so many already had, that was it. Not to mention there hadn't been a pregnancy for four years. Life itself had come to an end.

"So you done arguing?" Grimmjow still stood on the higher ground looking down on Ichigo. He had barely changed, despite no longer having the mask. His features were as cold and hard as ever, hair the blue mess it had always been. Ichigo couldn't say the same for himself.

"Are you happy, Grimmjow? Letting them treat you like an animal? Eventually they'll throw a match so they can win big, you know. You'll die, and there will be nothing waiting for you."

At this, the former espada laughed. "It's a fucking relief, kid. All I had waiting for me was Hell, now at least I don't have to worry about that."

Ichigo hadn't considered that. Grimmjow may have teamed up with them when they'd found him during the war, but Ichigo always knew he'd only done so out of hatred for the Vandenreich and not because he wanted to save existence.

"Word of advice, don't hang around Tokyo." Grimmjow nodded back the way he'd been headed. "Those jumbo screens still flash your face at least once a week."

Ichigo followed his gaze to the blinking light several blocks away. Yes, humanity had come to know the teen soul reaper when the war had spilled into their world and he'd been all that had stopped its complete destruction. A million youtube video of a fight he'd had while in human form had made him a hero in seconds. The ensuing message to the world he'd given to a reporter while covered in blood had given people hope.

And he'd let them all down. Humanity was not very forgiving.

"Come with me," he said almost desperately, when thinking of turning back to the long windswept desert between civilizations on his own, the hunger and cold nights. The wild men and women who lived in burnt out cars and collapsed buildings that had survived the weight of sand that had landed on them.

Grimmjow barked out a cruel laugh. "You say they treat _me_ like an animal. Kid, when's the last time you looked at yourself in a mirror? I ain't joining you to live in squalor until we fucking starve to death."

"Then, take me where you're staying. Just for a night, please."

"No way. They see me with you and they really will kill me."

"But—"

"Listen Kurosaki, things turned out rotten for you, but this world doesn't have room for sympathy, okay? Go find someone else to be your friend."  
He started to walk away but paused when knees hit the sand at the base of the rising highway. He let out a long sigh before looking back to where Ichigo had collapsed.

"Don't you understand?" Ichigo breathed through his hands, everything in him letting go. "I've been walking around this damn planet for four years and I haven't found anyone—ANYONE! Until I saw your face on the arena poster. So I chased you like a ghost, knowing you would be like this, knowing you'd walk away, but I had to try because you were the only soul left I knew wouldn't kill me on sight! Isn't that pathetic? Isn't that the most ironic fucking thing you've ever heard?"  
He fell forward until his head was against the dirt.

"You think if you cry I'll give in?"

"No." His voice was trembling but there were no tears in it. "I haven't cried in four years."

Ichigo sat back up slowly, hand still around his middle. Grimmjow noted the dark stain in his filthy shirt that glistened under the moonlight. He hadn't noticed the smell of blood after spending hours in the blood soaked arena.

"I guess it's all just sort of catching up to me." A calm settled over Ichigo. He knew Grimmjow was going to leave, and he knew he didn't have the strength to go back out into the no man's land between civilizations. So he just lay back on the slope and stared up at the sky. He wasn't sure when the stab wound from two nights ago had reopened but it was drenching his stomach and hip, warm and wet. He could feel sleep coming, and he thought of all ways, this woundn't be the worst way to die.

"So you giving up then?" Sand crunched next to his head. Grimmjow stood above him, watching his slowing breaths.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"Fine, die then." But he didn't move away. His cold eyes continued to stare down on the young man while the world became fuzzy. "But you are an idiot."  
Ichigo frowned.

"What? Why?"

"I'm not the only one left from the war."

"I know the Vandenreich are north of Japan."

"Not those assholes. Geeze kid you've been scouring the world for old friends and you walked right past them."

At this, Ichigo fought back the dark. He blinked hard and sat up. "Wait, what? What are you talking about?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "Turns out the Soul Reapers weren't all massacred in those first weeks."

Most formerly spiritual beings had been attacked or killed by humans, and many had been killed by the band of surviving Vandenreich who now ruled the northern islands of Japan. So any word of survivors was welcome news to Ichigo.

"You've seen them?"

"I've talked to them. You ain't the first one who's come to find me."

"Who?" Ichigo pressed his hands into his knees and tried to stand. He had done well up to now but it seemed exhaustion, malnutrition and his wound were winning out. His hands slipped and hit the dirt again. He groaned long and loud before face planting.

"Yo," Grimmjow nudged him in the ribs with a boot and Ichigo let out a hiss of pain. "You dying or something?"

Ichigo tried to answer but his breath was far too thin and strained.

"You'll die if you stay out here. Scavengers or the rain will get you," Grimmjow reminded with little concern in his voice.

"Ugh." Ichigo lifted himself on his elbows. "Shit..." He got himself sitting again. "Just tell me Grimmjow, who did you see?"  
"Friend of yours, I have a message to pass along to you, actually, from Rukia Kuchki."

"W-what?" Icihgo's heart thrummed in his chest. He looked up to the man standing over him but all he could see was the small warrior woman he'd last seen in the war. He felt his breath choke off and tried to ask Grimmjow more, ask him what the message was, but the world tilted sideways and he fell forward again, into the dark.

* * *

_**Oh man, I've been excited about publishing this story! Internment was actually born from a scene in this. The story itself was inspired by the song "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons (I was listening to it and could totally picture Grimmjow kicking ass in a fighting ring). Anyway, hope all the exposition didn't kill this first chap but I was trying to set the scene of this new, apocalyptic world. Hope you'll follow and review!**_

_**Riza**_


	2. Chapter 2

Ichigo woke to a whirling fan. He stared at it, mesmerized, not having seen one in years. Then he became aware of the burning pain in his side as his muscles came back to life.

"Don't." A harsh voice warned but it was the strong hand that kept him flat. Ichigo's eyes worked up from bruised knuckles to the strong jawline of the man above him. Once he got past the surprise of seeing Grimmjow still with him, he looked down his torso to see what the other was doing.

Grimmjow worked a curved needle under his skin, stitching the flesh back together. Ichigo shuddered in pain and bit his bottom lip so as not to make a sound.

"Almost." Grimmjow said by way of letting him know he only had to hang on for a few more moments. Grimmjow finished, tied off the stitches and then splashed a liberal amount of pure vodka over the wound. Ichigo lurched and screamed but the sound was blunted by one of Grimmjow's hands.

"You'll live," he grunted when he withdrew.

Ichigo sat slowly. Grimmjow stood, taking a large slosh of the vodka and turning to the balcony. The patio was smashed in and the apartment was chilled by the night air but still warmer than the culvert Ichigo had been sheltering in. Beyond Grimmjow, he could see drums filled with water—at least that rain was good for something.

Grimmjow watched the land below them for a long time. Judging by the other buildings Ichigo could see, they must have been at least ten stories above sand level. When he was recovered from the pain enough to speak evenly, he asked the obvious question.

"Why? I thought you were eager to get rid of me."

"I was." Grimmjow turned back and pulled cigarette from his pocket. He flicked a lighter and took a long pull. "But then I remembered I can't let you die."

"Why not?"

"Because I have a debt to repay to that soul reaper and the one thing she'd accept from me was a promise to give you help if I should ever see you. That, and her message."

"What message, what is it?"

"The location of the Soul Reaper hideout."

Ichigo tensed. "Where?"

"In the North, over the mountain where the pillars of Las Noches are."

Ichigo absorbed this. He'd been near there just four months ago. Had he really been so close to old friends?

"Does she know anything about my sisters?"

"She didn't say."

"What about other survivors? Orihime?"

"I don't know."

"Chad? Renji, Ur—"

"Kid I don't know! That was all she said. She wasn't about to give away everything to me."

Ichigo forced himself to calm, but it was hard. When he continued to struggle to process this news, Grimmjow grabbed the bottle of vodka and handed it to him.

"I don't drink." Ichigo tried to pass it off.

"If you don't drink and calm yourself down then I'm not going to bother trying to talk to you."

Ichigo glared at him, but took the bottle. "Fine." The chug burned deep but he let its warmth spread out over his sore body.

"Explain from the beginning. When and where did you see her?"

"Not far, the Nagano slums, maybe eighteen months back."

"And what happened?"

"She gave me the message."

"Why though?"

"Cause I'm a known name and she guessed you'd do exactly what you just did and track me down when you started seeing my name on billboards."

"No I mean, why did you do this, why do you owe her?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it does. Otherwise I won't trust you, I won't understand."

Grimmjow let out a long sigh, with it came a puff of tar filled smoke. He leaned against the doorframe with an annoyed slouch but Ichigo knew he was relenting.

"I got myself into a bit of trouble. Finished a fight, got a little too drunk, and some slavers thought they could make off with me for the glads."

By glads, he meant the _gladiator fights_. Ichigo wished he could blame the return of the historical game on the Vandenreich, but he couldn't. Gladiator fighting was just one of the ways mankind had found to entertain itself without television. There were many different groups who would abduct poor souls and slave them out to the glads. Grimmjow's ring matches were barely a step up but they were by choice and he made mint on them. Someone else, however, could have made an even bigger profit on him if they'd owned him for a glads tournament.

"And?"

And they managed to beat the shit out of me. She got there just as they were trying to brand me. Downed them all before I even knew what was happening. Unfortunately, not before the asshole with the poker dropped the damn thing on me."

Ichigo winced at the thought of red hot iron coming for his skin.

"Got me pretty damn good." Grimmjow tugged up the bottom of his pant leg, just enough to show the end of a terrible thick scar along his calf. "I was down for the count. Rukia put me back together again."

"A wound like that wouldn't heal fast. She must have been with you for a while."

"Almost two weeks." Grimmjow nodded. "Then she had to go and I had other fights I didn't want to miss."

"You just let her go?"

He shrugged. "We're not allies. I only fought with you lot to survive that war."

"Well how is it different here?"

"Cause I got my own system. I got the fights. Anyone who wants to fight me—Vandenreich or otherwise—knows where to find me. They come to the ring, they get their chance, I throw them down. I've put down three Stern Ritters since the war like a joke. They saw my face, they knew who I was, they made the mistake of trying to take me out. The ring is my domain and it's how I'm surviving in this crap-hole. Money ain't bad either."

"So she was okay with you leaving."

"It's worked to her advantage, really. She said she helped me because we were allies. I told her we weren't and that I'd have to pay her back. She said I could repay her by helping you if I ever ran into you. So here we are."

Ichigo nodded, accepting the story. He didn't really take Grimmjow for a liar, so he trusted it.

"Okay, so you're helping me. What exactly does that mean?"  
At this, Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, clearly pissed but far too proud to leave his debt outstanding.

"It means she gave me two weeks, so I'll give you the same. Then we'll be square."

"Two weeks...you mean you'll let me stay with you for two weeks?"

"I'll do you one better." Grimmjow pulled a piece of paper off the coffee table and dropped it in Ichigo's lap. "There's a market happening in Aomori Prefecture in seventeen days—just below the mountain where the Soul Reapers are hiding. Markets mean big fights and big money so that's where I'm going. I'll take you as good as all the way to your girlfriend. Maybe I'll even hand you over in person so I can make sure all debts are paid."

Ichigo clutched the paper which advertised the Market, then looked up at Grimmjow. "You're serious."

"Yeah."

"Thank-you."

"Don't say that—it's a debt. If I didn't owe her you'd be scrap food on the highway by now."

He bent and hauled Ichigo up by one arm. "We leave in the morning. Clean yourself up and then we'll do something about that hair."

"My hair?"

"Yes, your hair. I ain't travelling with you when you've got a damn neon sign on your head announcing you're Ichigo Kurosaki. The orange has got to go."

* * *

Ichigo sat still, bare to the waist with a towel draped over his shoulders. He watched his own reflection in the dead t.v. screen. Behind him Grimmjow sat on the couch, plastic gloves on his hands and squirting black liquid into his hair.

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this to me."

"I can't believe you haven't done this yet," Grimmjow countered.

"It feels wrong to hide who I am."

"Not when everyone in the world wants to see you dead."  
Ichigo quieted. He let Grimmjow work in silence. He couldn't even find the humour in their situation—that Grimmjow Jaggerjaques was sitting behind him, doing his hair. No, there was no humour left in this world, only what was necessary.

Grimmjow towelled his hair then dropped a comb in his lap.

"Shouldn't we cut it?" Ichigo looked back at him.

"No, you have short hair in those photos. You might as well keep it long."

Ichigo nodded and combed through his now shoulder length black hair. Grimmjow had even done his eyebrows to make sure it looked natural. Since his red hair had always been decidedly unnatural, he thought he might actually be able to pull this off.

Grimmjow had moved over to the balcony again. He seemed on edge, no doubt concerned someone had followed them or noticed him carrying an unconscious orange haired man up ten flights of stairs.

"Okay, go in the back, I'll stay out here."

Ichigo rose stiffly. His side still hurt terribly and he'd lost enough blood to leave him very weak. Grimmjow had let him eat whatever he wanted, for which he was incredibly grateful. The other had no plans to carry the food he had stocked up in the room so he said it made no difference to him. Ichigo couldn't imagine walking away from food, but then he saw the wads of cash Grimmjow stuffed into a knapsack and guessed it didn't matter so much to someone who could just buy more food along the way.

Ichigo stumbled into the back of the apartment and found the master bedroom. He stopped short, seeing the large mattress, pillows and blankets. He gave pause, looking back to Grimmjow.

"What?" The espada said from the doorway. It was clear he was going to stay out here to keep a close eye out.

"I..." Ichigo looked to the bed again. "I haven't slept in a bed in years."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "Well you won't have long, we've got to leave in four or five hours when the sun rises."  
Ichigo just nodded and entered the bedroom. It was sheltered from the cold wind that came in from the patio. It was a complete mess and countless people had probably slept in this bed, but after all the places where he'd lay his head at nights, he couldn't care less. He sat carefully on the mattress and rolled into the blankets.

It was something he didn't think he'd ever feel again. It wasn't just the softness of the mattress, the warmth of the blankets and the shelter, it was the man keeping watch in the other room, the fact he wasn't alone and that when he drifted off to sleep, maybe he wouldn't wake up every twenty minutes for fear of someone coming to kill him while he slept.

* * *

Dawn came all too quickly. Ichigo had still woken repeatedly, and the pain in his side had started throbbing part way through the night, but none of that changed the fact he'd been warm and dry and it was still the best sleep he'd had in four years.

When Grimmjow barked a wake-up call at him he knew it really was time to leave. There wasn't much preparation to do. Grimmjow filled bottles of water from the barrels on the balcony and Ichigo still packed up some of the food despite Grimmjow's assurance it wasn't necessary. The last thing Grimmjow did was dig under the couch for something. He drew out a long katana and strapped it over his back.

They departed, Grimmjow leaving the door open behind him. This had just been a pit stop for him. Ichigo hadn't stayed in any such buildings, but he knew how it worked. Grimmjow would have dropped off enough cash to whoever worked in the basement and they would have given him the little bit of electricity they'd enjoyed and marked the room as unavailable. Of course someone could come try to take it from him if they really wanted—but no one really wanted to mess with Grimmjow unless it was in the ring for a boatload of cash.

They descended to sand level. Once in the hallway Ichigo could see the sand was four stories up the building. They hopped out a broken window at the end of one hallway and hit the road.

The highways were still the best mode of travel, especially in places where Heuco Mundo's sand had crossed over. The wind and rain helped keep the raised roads cleared, though there were often lower patches that got drowned out. The sun rose hot and brutal. They kept their coats on as it was the best way to beat the heat of the sun's strong rays. The weather had been deeply affected by the clash of the worlds, Ichigo wondered if the atmosphere had too and if the UV rays might be stronger.

They met a fair number of travellers on their way. Many were on foot but a few had bikes and one even had a horse. An animal like that would be extremely difficult to care for especially in the rough terrain and sand. It would almost be more of a hindrance than a help.

By noon, however, Ichigo was wishing he had some other means of transportation. He'd walked all over this broken world, but he did so at the pace of a hungry, tired and often wounded man. Trying to keep up with the well-fed, very fit Grimmjow was exhausting. Grimmjow got quite far ahead of him before he stopped and looked back to see the young man with a hand clutched to his side, limping along trying to keep going. When Ichigo caught up to him after a long struggle Grimmjow just sighed and indicated a chunk of concrete.

They sat. Ichigo drank deep from his canister and tried to catch his breath.

"How bad is it?" Grimmjow asked after a while.

"I can manage."

"Can you?"

"Yeah, what other choice do we have, anyway?"

"None really. So what happened, anyway?"

"Some people recognized me just as I was getting to the outskirts of town. I patched it up but I guess it wasn't good enough."

"Do people recognize you often?"

"I try to avoid people when I can, but yeah."

"Well, hopefully the hair will help. I don't want to get slowed down. It'll be big pot at the Market."

Ichigo just grunted. He hadn't been to a Market in over a year. It was not a pleasant place. He still had trouble getting his head around how quickly people had descended into the most despicable creatures. Some of them may be hollows who got converted back into humans after the Clash, some of them may have been souls from the rukon districts, but they were all human now, and many of them were humans of Earth. So it disgusted Ichigo on every level to see people betting on fights like the ones Grimmjow fought in, or the glads.

At Markets they also sold slaves and you could shop around for top dollar prostitutes. There were other things that did appeal to Ichigo, like the movies. You could pay heaps of money to watch a film projected on a big screen. Most people couldn't generate enough electricity for such things so it was just like going to an old drive-in and tasting a bit of life before the apocalypse. Ichigo had watched one once, almost too far away to see it as he couldn't actually go down into the crowds or afford it, but the sound had carried all the way to him and it had been two hours of freedom from this life.

Vendors would also be selling goods they'd scavenged. Batteries were one of the top sellers. Fresh fruits and vegetables another big hit from those who managed to find a piece of land to farm. Ichigo wouldn't mind tasting something that didn't come from an expired can.

"You good now?" Grimmjow was clearly impatient. Ichigo rose, his side still throbbing, but he nodded.

"Let's go."

They pushed on into the night because the moon was full and it wasn't hot like the day time. They hit a long stretch of sand. It would be dangerous to sleep here anyway because a windstorm could come up on them and even Grimmjow would have trouble getting through it alive.

"How far have you travelled?" Ichigo asked as they walked. They had spoken little—Grimmjow had fought by his side in more than one battle during the war, but he'd never stuck around to chat afterwards and Ichigo had always gotten the feeling he still wanted to take his head off. It wasn't quite the same now—Ichigo was fairly sure being human had tamed some of the worst of Grimmjow's temperament but it hadn't made him friendly by any means.

"I stick to where I know. I've heard enough about the rest of the world to know I'm better off here."

"So Japan?"

"I guess. You humans seem bent on calling this new world by your world's names. For all we know Earth landed on Hueco Mundo."

It was true, they couldn't be sure just how things had happened, but Ichigo was fairly certain everything else had landed here as Earth was the most intact of all the worlds. So they still referred to old political boarders even if some mountains had been crushed or seas filled in by sand.

"I checked out some of the Vandenreich territory once, up in the North island of Japan," Grimmjow said after a while.

"What? No one's been able to get even close to their boarders. How did you get in?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "I wanted in so I found a way. I also went to that city everyone goes on about, Shanghai."  
Shanghai had survived rather well and was now probably the most densely populated city on the planet, but that caused its own problems.

"What about you?" Grimmjow asked.

"I left Japan for a year, trying to find other soul reapers, some hope—anything, but then realized there was just more of the same. Alot of Europe seems to be the Rukon districts. Alot of Russia is the Vandenreich world. And in between is just shambles of our world. I only found more trouble out there so I came back here."

His story finished with a stumble. He caught himself before face planting and realized he'd tripped over the edge of buried concrete.

"Good we didn't get off track," Grimmjow commented. If they had, they would have missed the highway where it rose up out of the sand again and then been stuck wading through the desert. "This way."

Grimmjow didn't lead them up the slope of broken pavement but under it, where a shallow shelter was created by an arch of the old overpass. It was just enough room for them to both lean into the bank of sand and be sheltered from wind, rain and the eyes of other travellers.

"A few hours," Grimmjow instructed. Ichigo tried not to groan. After the pace of their long day he wanted to sleep for a week. It took no time for exhaustion to pull him under, but of course, it took just as little for the nightmares to come.

* * *

**_Wow, thanks for the great response to the beginning of this. I'm so glad there is an interest. I hope things aren't moving too slow right now but trust me the action will pick up!_**

**_FWI Not IchiHime nor IchiRuki._**

**_Thanks,_**

**_Riza_**


	3. Chapter 3

"Shit I barely slept," Grimmjow muttered, annoyed. "You are the nosiest sleeper in the world."

"Sorry." Ichigo felt just as tired having woken countless times to the faces of past friends intermingled with many others who'd attacked him over the last year and finishing with the desperate eyes of Yuzu and her tiny voice calling his name over and over until it turned to a scream. Grimmjow just gave a grunt to his apology and headed back around to the foot of the highway.

Their progress was slower today. The terrain was ideal—flat and the pavement unhindered by sand for miles—but this also meant more traffic and more trouble. Many people skirted away when they recognized Grimmjow. A few gave him a respectful wave, but any larger group looked at them dangerously, checking them over to see if they carried anything worth killing for. Grimmjow himself was valuable, and as his story told, some had already tried to make off with him for the Glads. It could easily happen again, but Ichigo saw many people notice the sword on Grimmjow's back and continue on. Grimmjow was renowned for his ability to kill people with his fists—facing him with a sword would be asking for death.

Ichigo also eyed it. He had carried different weapons over the course of the past few years, but he'd thrown them all away. He couldn't very well admit this to Grimmjow who killed on a daily basis, but Ichigo couldn't seem to bring himself to kill humans. The world was a very different place for him without spiritual pressure. It wasn't that he was weak or that he couldn't win a fight—but when he cut into flesh with a blade, people tended to scream in agony, fall and bleed and beg for mercy, rather than cursing him out, getting back up and facing him again. Here, in the real world, there was no buffer of spiritual pressure between the body and its pain receptors. Pain and blood loss were more real to Ichigo then they ever had been, even during the war.

It wasn't quite noon when one of the groups of travelers stopped. There were five of them, all men, faces dark from the sun and cracked from the dry heat of the day time. They'd likely travelled far and they must have been looking for whatever supplies they could take. They too eyed Grimmjow's sword, but they stopped nonetheless blocking their path.

Grimmjow stopped with a bit of a sigh and pulled the blade from his back without a word. Ichigo tensed for the fight but Grimmjow put a hand on his chest and pushed him back.

The brief look he shot him told Ichigo Grimmjow didn't need any help and he preferred to handle this on his own.

Ichigo stood rooted as he watched Grimmjow cut them down. He let him fight alone, because he wouldn't be able to finish them off with the brutal efficiency Grimmmjow did. He didn't protest against the merciless killing, because he had to get to Rukia. He had to find his sisters. He had to know who else had survived. And one look at these men told him they would kill him and strip him of anything of worth and leave him for the birds or maybe even eat him themselves.

He stepped over an arm and then the rest of a corpse. Grimmjow wiped his blade off on one of the man's shirts and then began patting them down for goods. He got a watch and a map and tossed Ichigo a bag of beef jerky. The salt content threatened to dehydrate him but it was a delectable treat on their trek. Ichigo wondered if Grimmjow had planned on this for his source of food from the start, but shortly after they left the carnage behind they came to convenience store just off the highway.

Of course, it wasn't a convenience store like it once had been, but it served the same purpose. Grimmjow paid an astronomical price for more water and aged energy bars. Ichigo gaped at the price, but for Grimmjow, it was nothing.

They continued on after a short break. They came upon more bodies and guessed the creeps who'd attacked them must have attacked others before Grimmjow ended them. Ichigo stiffened seeing a young woman face down and half naked. Grimmjow walked by without a second glance.

It was dusk when they encountered their next problem. Grimmjow came to a halt. Ichigo wondered why, staring ahead at vacant sand road.

"What—"

"Shh."

Ichigo shut up and continued to stare ahead. Only when he quieted his breathing did he catch the sound that had made Grimmjow pause: the low grunt and growl and wet chomp of something eating with furious pleasure.

Grimmjow slowly withdrew his sword. He pointed to the concrete barrier that divided the highway. Ichigo looked that way and just barely saw the arched back that jerked as it pulled at its meal, stripping sunbaked flesh from something—probably someone's—corpse.

Grimmjow crouched low before stalking forward. Ichigo watched him go, not sure what to do. It didn't take long for the wolf to catch their scent or hear Grimmjow's movements because suddenly the hungry noises turned to a low growl.

"Come and get it," Grimmjow baited. The beast ramped up its deep utterance before bounding over the barrier. Grimmjow caught it under the belly with one swipe, opening it up before it landed. It was dead when it hit the pavement. He turned triumphant and didn't see what Ichigo did.

"Grimmjow!" They hadn't been able to see the second one. It was already in the air before Grimmjow turned. He hit the dirt, it rolled off of him but came back faster than he was getting up. But Ichigo had already started running. He skidded over gritty pavement and scooped up the sword, swinging it back into the wolf's face before its jaws clamped over Grimmjow. He succeeded in slashing it, but not stopping it. The animal's attention now turned on him and when it leaped he didn't have the body mass to meet it so he too tumbled into the ground. He only realized what had happened when he felt the wet wash of blood rain down on him.

It had impaled itself on the sword.

"Ugh, get it off." Ichigo was stuck under the weight of the dead wolf. Grimmjow was back on his feet, face scraped but otherwise unharmed. He paused to smile down on Ichigo's struggle.

"Come on, get it off of me."

"Fine." He booted the beast to the side. Ichigo was able to extricate himself and Grimmjow dug out the blade. He looked around for more nightly predators but the pair seemed to be the only ones.

"Alright," he lined his sword up with the animal's flank. "Guess we have dinner."

* * *

The meat was tough and stringy and a bit overcooked. But one couldn't take chances on rare meat with something like a wolf that scavenged off dead bodies. Ichigo had eaten a fair number of animals he'd killed but meat was still always a treat and filled him up like canned foods never could. He cooked as much as he could for another meal but twenty four hours was as long as it would last before it spoiled in the heat of the day

They went to bed satisfied, tucking up in an overturned bus. Ichigo woke sore from the uncomfortable metal roof he's slept on. It didn't take long for a strong wind to catch up to them and the scent of stale water to drift their way.

"What's that?"Ichigo asked, seeing a large reflective surface up ahead.

"Tochigi. I haven't been this way for a while but the word is it flooded in the rains."

"Like Sendai?" Sendai was a city the ocean had consumed save the very tops of high rises and now a whole community of people lived in boats and on the roofs of the old city.

"Not as deep. It's just a mess from the rains and too many rivers damned up from Hueco Mundo's sand. We'll see for ourselves soon how bad it is."

It took them half of an hour to get to the edge of the water. There was no sign of any way around it without a massive detour but it reeked of stagnant, vile water they did not want to venture through.

"Take a breather," Grimmjow instructed as he pulled out the map he'd taken from the men who'd attacked them. "They must have found a way around."

Ichigo took the opportunity to sit but watched Grimmjow scrutinize the map for hints of how they crossed.

"Damn," he said eventually.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"They were tracking their journey. They drew a line straight through the water here."

"So you think they swam for it?"

"Yeah. It's probably even walkable in some parts, just..."

"Filthy."

"Yeah. How's that wound?" Grimmjow waited while Ichigo pulled up his shirt to show the stitching Grimmjow had done for him. It still hadn't scabbed over completely. "It will get infected in that water."

"I have this." Ichigo dug in his bag and drew out a roll of duct tape. It had been his first aid substitute in many cases.

"Use it. Hopefully it will be waterproof."

Ichigo did as instructed and sealed the tape over the wound in hopes no water would get in it. Then they both stripped to their boxers, binding up their clothes and stuffing them into Grimmjow's bag that had carried their canteens. He'd been lucky enough to acquire a waterproof one that canoers might use. It would keep their essential supplies dry while anything else could go in Ichigo's bag. They position their packs on their bare backs, Grimmjow putting his sword back into place, and then they stepped into the dark waters.

It was a most unpleasant journey. They were able to walk most of it, flooded to their waists, sometimes their armpits, but there was no current to drag their bodies so they could continue to move forward. Only in few places did they actually have to swim. But the footing was treacherous. They couldn't see through the water at all for all the filth that floated in it. Because of the stillness, flies had gathered and bit at their bare exposed skin. Indistinguishable things bobbed at the surface or stirred against their legs. Sometimes the things were distinguishable and Ichigo would look away from the bloated, decomposing bodies.

Worst of all was the smell. Neither spoke the whole way, trying to keep their mouths and noses as shut as possible. Ichigo only opened his mouth when his foot slipped on something that felt slimy and rolled under him, putting him off balance and the he stepped over the edge of a deeper area. He cried out just before he plunged under. Grimmjow pulled him up immediately but he was already covered in the filth and he spat it back out of his mouth. Grimmjow gave him a look as if he were seeing a dead man. Ichigo's stomach churned and he wished he could make himself hurl so as to get the water he'd inhaled back up.

It took almost an entire day to get across. They came out the other side painted brown from silt that clung to their bodies and smelling of a bog.

"We need to get clean," Grimmjow said, scanning the land. "There." He spotted the rain barrels at once. Ichigo followed his gaze, the barrels lined the front yard of an old house that had just escaped the flooding.

"Someone might still be there."

"Well _someone_ can share their water or get a sword through the eye," Grimmjow grumbled. Ichigo hesitated but they had little choice. Someone did lay claim to the barrels—a frail looking elderly man—but Grimmjow reached for his sword and the man backed off. Ichigo called after the elderly man to give an apology but he was already hiding inside his house. The poor guy probably withstood the stench of being so close to the bog just because he knew others wouldn't want to and he could remain relatively secluded.

They used a bucket to scoop the water and shower themselves off. It took a few good douses and some frantic scrubbing to get the stench and filth from their skin. Ichigo tore off the duct tape, unsure if it had done the job or not. A stitch or two came with it, and he swore seeing blood bubble up along the surface of the wound again.

"Damn."

"Let it bleed," Grimmjow commented as he belted his pants back on. "If any water got in that will wash it back out."

Ichigo took the advice and so just put his pants back on and left his shirt off, though the sun was setting and with it would come the cold. He put his coat on to keep some of the cold away. Grimmjow looked up at the sky and saw it was overcast. He looked back to the house.

"Don't." Ichigo stopped him when he realized his intention. "He's just a scared old man."

"He doesn't need that whole house and I'd rather sleep inside tonight."

"Well then offer him some money."

"For fuck's sake."

"Grimmjow please, you have enough you can spare it."

It was true. Maybe because the espada enjoyed the luxury the pointless pieces of paper afforded him, he conceded and they went up to the door and knocked.

"Please just leave me alone!" The man called out.

"I'm sorry for my friend," Ichigo called back through the wood. They easily could have broken through the door. "We have money to pay for the water and we would like a place to stay for the night."

Silence.

"I really am sorry about earlier. We have..." Ichigo glanced back at the money Grimmjow withdrew. "Ten thousand Yen."

This time, there was little hesitation. The door opened a crack, then, when the man saw they had the cash, it opened all the way. For someone who hid in the outskirts like this, it would be impossible to make money, so he could hardly pass up this opportunity.

"Thank you." Ichigo stepped inside when he made way for them. Grimmjow passed off the money with a scowl. The man showed them to a room as quickly as he could and hurried away. He maintained his distance, clearly still afraid they'd decide to kill him for his home or water or possessions.

"For that money he could have fed us." Grimmjow looked half of a mind to go routing through the man's food.

"If he lives out here alone he probably doesn't have much." Ichigo produced some of their food from his bag to distract him. "Here."

Grimmjow took the rest of their meat stored in the waterproof bag. Ichigo ate his half and made himself comfortable. The beds had clearly belonged to children. Ichigo didn't like to think what had happened to them. The walls were decorated navy blue with bright planets painted all over and on the ceiling there was a mobile of the solar system. The beds were similarly themed and clearly hadn't been disturbed in a long time. Ichigo wondered how this place had been left so untouched. Grimmjow clearly did too because he pulled out his map to consult it.

"We strayed out a long ways," he determined. "I should have known. We'll need to walk at least two miles to get back to the highway but I can't be sure, there are no other landmarks."

"We can ask the old man in the morning if he knows how far it is."

"Yeah." Grimmjow set down his stuff on one of the beds. It would be too short for him, but it would be better than the outdoors. He checked the view from the window before shutting the drapes tight, then he dragged a chair over to the door and wedged it under the knob, just in case the old man decided to off them in the night. Then he nodded to Ichigo to remove his jacket and lay down.

Ichigo lay still as the other fixed up his stitches. It didn't take him long. Grimmjow moved to his own bed and lay down, placing his sword over his stomach, one hand on the handle.

"Can you really sleep like that?"

"I always sleep like this."

"Oh. Well, night."

Ichigo lay down, his ankles hanging out over the edge of the bed. He tucked up his knees and hugged the pillow as he lay on his side. The room smelled musty and some of the stench of the bog had leaked in, but the bed felt clean—cleaner than the one in the apartment building, and he couldn't help snuggle in closer to the cool sheets. He shut his eyes and imagined his own bedroom, now buried forever under foreign sand. He wished, as he had so many times, for just one more night to rest there, one more day to wake and hear his sisters cooking breakfast, or his father's obnoxious cries trying to sneak attack him while he was still coming awake.

His father's voice he'd never hear again. His sisters' he could only pray to find on the other side of this journey.

Dreams turned into thick globs of oozing slime that washed slowly down the walls of his mind. The dark room came back into focus and he made out the slithering tendrils on the walls and ceiling. He went stiff in the bed, watching in disbelief as vines snaked over every inch of the room, overtaking dressers, lamps and posters until they came to claim the beds as well.

"No!" He sat straight as the pointed ends crawled over the sheets. This was impossible, the magic of the worlds was dead. But he clearly saw them coming for them. "No!"

"KID!"

His body heaved violently as Grimmjow shook him. He could see those blue, piercing eyes but behind him the room still writhed with intertwining vines.

"Grimmjow watch out!"

Grimmjow looked behind him, unperturbed by anything he saw. He turned back to the young man he restrained and put a hand against his forehead but just by looking at the colour of his flesh it was clear he was ill.

"You're hallucinating. You got infected."

"There are vines on the walls," Ichigo argued, holding him back desperately. "Maybe it's a Vandenreich's power...but I don't know how since—"

"Kid there's nothing in the room, calm down."

"Grimmjow..." he felt the sweat on his palms where he held the other by the arms. He swallowed and tried to calm his breathing. His head felt heavy and dizzy. He shut his eyes for a moment, only to see Orihime twisting in agony on a marble staircase, then a tiny hand reaching from the sand where his house should be.

"Kid snap out of it!" Grimmjow slapped him. It did nothing to bring him out of where the hallucination had taken him. Ichigo screamed and cried out names. He both fought Grimmjow's hold and clung to him as he became the stand in for whatever ghost sprung before his waking eyes.

There was a banging at the door behind him. Grimmjow kicked the chair out of the way to give the man access.

"What are you doing to him?"

"He's sick." Grimmjow tried to pull away to give the man room but Ichigo wouldn't let him go. The man moved to the other side of the bed.

"The bog." he said at once.

"Shit." Grimmjow checked Ichigo's wound. It didn't look swollen. Then he remembered Ichigo's fall. "His head went under, he may have swallowed some."

The man made the same face Grimmjow had when it happened. He knew what that meant.

"Do you have any medicines?" Grimmjow asked.

"Nothing to help this."

"Well, what then?"

"Son, there's a hundred disease floating in those waters and none of them can be treated by anything simple. He'll be dead in a day without real antibiotics and you can't get those in places like this."

"Then where?!"

"The cities. The nearest one is—"

"Kanuma, I know." Grimmjow barked out. "It's fucking twenty kilometers from here!"

The man stepped back. "I'm afraid if you tried to wait it out he won't make it. I've seen enough bodies at the edge of the water in the last few months to know. I'm sorry."

"Fuck." Grimmjow shut his eyes.

The easiest thing to do would let Ichigo die. His problem would be solved. But in his mind's eye he saw a small round face, those dark eyes that had looked right through him back then, and made him swear with all the honour he had left to repay his debt in full.

"Damn," he swore again but started pulling Ichigo up against him. "Get our packs," he ordered the old man who helped him put them and his sword on his back.

"You won't make it on your own."

"I don't have much choice." He hiked Ichigo up, shoving his face into his shoulder to keep the noise down.

"Stop screaming kid. Whatever you see, it ain't real."

Ichigo might have heard him, but he didn't let go of him either.

"Good luck." The man followed them to the door.

"How far to the highway?" Grimmjow asked him.

"A kilometer."

With that, Grimmjow left, running the second his feet were off the porch. He knew he couldn't keep up this pace the whole time but he'd damn well give it a try. He felt Ichigo go limp two miles in. It made it easier for him then having to put up with the noise, especially when he hit the highway again and had to be weary of other travellers.

Ichigo was light enough—malnourished as he was he probably weighed less now as a full grown man than he had as a teenager when Grimmjow had known him so long ago in the war. He wrestled with the reoccurring thought of dropping Ichigo and walking away. But every time he remembered the young man pressed back to back with him while the enemy came in, or Rukia holding her hand over his mouth to stifle his screams as she poured medicine over his burn.

"Fuck." How had he grown soft when the world around him had gotten so hard?

At half way he had to slow to a walk. It was fucking joke. He thought in vain to his days as an espada, and how quickly he could have moved through the spiritual world. This physical plain was so damn slow and cumbersome. He readjusted his hold on Ichigo and managed a jog but he was winded, his muscles were tired. If it was just him he might have managed the marathon at this pace, but with his burden he was exhausted.

Ichigo roused, confused, but not screaming anymore. He made a few moans but nothing more, Grimmjow was sure the fever was keeping him from seeing reality. He made it another three miles before he had to stop for water. His throat was dry and he coughed hard, his lungs burning. Sweat dripped into his eyes and he dropped to his knees for a few moments, but he knew if he stopped too long he'd never get going again.

Dawn came almost unnoticed under a heavy cloud and the day remained dark. He could see a bit better, enough to see threats in the distance. He'd been lucky to make it through the night without encounters but he was sure the threat of rain had kept most in shelters. Maybe it would throughout the day too. He needed a clear path to get there on time.

He was walking again when he saw the city looming up. Out here there was less sand, and the landscape was truer to the original Earth though devastated by the last four years of unnatural weather.

He cut across the land now, abandoning the highway as it would have taken longer. He told himself he shaved off a mile by doing so but it was more a trick to give him the drive to keep going. The sky scrapers loomed forever, taking ages to get close. He felt like he was making no progress and realized he was barely walking anymore. His arms were numb from the weight they bore, but he picked up his pace again, not about to lose this fight now.

Ichigo threw up on him just as they got to the city. He cursed the young man but he didn't stop, not until he found someone.

"Where is a chemist?" he demanded of a woman sitting on the very outskirts of town. She shrugged. Grimmjow growled but pushed on further into the city. "A chemist!" He barked out at anyone he saw. Finally someone pointed him in the right direction. This city was a slum, no electricity to buy here. He passed flocks of street dwellers who must have found it easier to live in the open than try to defend a home or possessions. Grimmjow knew this place to be rough, he just had to hope he was rougher.

He picked up his pace when he saw the red sign pointing down the other side of the block.

"Finally."

He ran around the corner. His back hit the concrete while he was still registering the pain in his skull.

A boot dislodged Ichigo from his stiff grip. Hands yanked him up by his shirt front as he was still trying to blink back the fogginess.

"It's that motherfucking fighter. He must have a load of cash on him."

The man's hand when to Grimmjow's pocket. His wrist snapped in two places before he could pull it back from his victim.

"SON OF A BITCH." His other hand came down on Grimmjow but he punched pavement and then his nose broke as Grimmjow came up at him. He toppled the man and rose to meet the next attacker. The gang had the advantage this time—Grimmjow was well and truly spent from his trek here. A punch caught him in the jaw and spun him hard enough he stumbled into a wall. Someone got the sword from his back. The crowbar that had glanced him when he rounded the corner now came down with full force across his back. He collapsed to his knees as the wind rushed out of him and pain exploded through his shoulders.

"You bastards," he bit out when they hauled him up again, one man on each arm, restraining him. The crowbar came in line with his face.

"Don't move." They warned. "Take his cash."

They dug through his pockets but got nothing. One of the men grabbed him by the throat.

"Where is it?"

"Fuck you."

The punch to his gut made him gasp but he straightened again. The second and third strikes came hard and fast, stressing ribs that had already taken a hit from behind. Then the guy backed off. "Kill him, then we'll strip him 'til we find it."

"Kill me?" Grimmjow laughed. "Now if you could do that in the ring, you'd get alot of money."

"Well this ain't the ring."

"Maybe, but you still ain't gonna kill me."

Grimmjow threw his weight back and his foot forward, driving the man's knee cap in the wrong direction. He screamed and crumbled. Grimmjow's foot came down again on his windpipe before the two restraining him could stop him. They reacted, throwing him head first at the wall. Grimmjow hit hard but rolled back and dodged a strike from his own sword. He caught the man's hand before his next swing, dislocated his elbow with a single strike and got his weapon back.

It was all over after that.

He sliced through them in seconds. He gasped for breath, blood falling from his hairline, but he ignored it, sheathed his weapon and collected Ichigo and their bags. He stumbled the last few feet of the journey and shoved through the reinforced door to the chemists. He dropped Ichigo on the long counter before the startled woman. Behind her a man held a gun toward them, but Grimmjow ignored the threat.

"I have cash," he managed. "He needs antibiotics."

She looked between him and Ichigo.

"He's pretty bad. How much cash do you have?"

Grimmjow leaned down and pulled off one boot. He dumped the contents on the counter. She stared at the amount in shock.

"That'll do." She nodded and the man behind her lowered his gun, immediately coming to her aid. "We'll do what we can to save him."

"Good." Grimmjow stood there, taking fast breaths, but his heartbeat was strangely slow. One eye went dark and he remembered the blood, the blows to his head. He blinked but everything was already hazy, the woman looked to be moving slowly though her eyes were fixed on him. He reached for the edge of the counter but his hand closed on empty air and her face disappeared as he met the dirty tile of the chemist's floor.

* * *

_**Thanks so much for reviewing! I love to get your feedback!**_

_**Riza**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Dammit." Grimmjow woke cursing, hand coming up to hug his side where his ribs groaned. He felt the tightness in his chest and his hand met bandages. He looked down on his bare torso, cloth strips bound his chest across his shoulders. Everything was sore, including his legs that had carried him and one other on a marathon to get to here.

Kurosaki.

He grabbed the wall for support. He was in a small, low lit room, the mattress on the floor the only thing in it. He threw the door open and groaned as pain shot through his back and shoulders. Damn those bastards who'd jumped him. But he pushed forward down the narrow hall that opened up into the shelves of pharmaceuticals kept caged behind the counter.

First he noted the woman from before, sorting through pills and re-shelving them—then his eyes narrowed in straight on the figure sitting on the opposite side of the counter, sipping at a bowl of hot soup.

"You!" Grimmjow exclaimed, suddenly angry. "What the Hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked innocently as Grimmjow staggered forward toward him. "I'm eating."

Blue eyes went wide in utter rage. He slammed the half door out of the way to get to the other side of the counter and grabbed the young man by both shoulders. "I thought you were fucking dying! And here you are...eating soup!"

Ichigo watched him back for a long moment, seeing the fatigue painted under blue eyes and the pain hunched in bruised shoulders.

"He was." The chemist broke their silent stare down. "But since we caught the bacterial infection before it could do any serious damage, he's fine."

"But this morning when I got here—"

"That was yesterday morning. You've been asleep for a day."

"What?" Grimmjow finally let go of Ichigo and turned to her. "Impossible."

"Concussions will do that. Plus this one says you came from Tochigi overnight—which I find hard to believe. But if you really did travel that far carrying him then you'd need the rest."

Grimmjow looked between her and Ichigo as if he thought they could be lying. He didn't seem comfortable with the idea of having his guard down for all that time.

"She's telling the truth," Ichigo said. "I woke up yesterday when she was stitching your head back together."

Grimmjow brought a hand up to his forehead and felt bandages there as well. He remembered the crowbar they'd used against him. Fucking cowards.

"Damn, we've lost time."

"Not really," Ichigo reasoned, "we would have spent yesterday travelling this far anyway."

Grimmjow wasn't prepared to give into reason and clung to his sour mood. He angrily accepted a bowl of soup while the chemist explained that he had rid them of a very violent gang that troubled them for drugs all the time and so she had been willing to go beyond her normal boundaries and take them in for the night. He didn't utter a thanks, Ichigo did for them both. The chemist tried to convince them they both needed another day of recovery but Grimmjow was far too anxious to get moving again. They didn't depart until after noon and Ichigo almost argued it would make more sense for them to stay, but he knew he'd lose that fight so he waved off the chemist with a final thanks and followed after the disgruntled espada.

Ichigo walked along in Grimmjow's wake. His breath was a bit wheezy, he'd thrown up most of yesterday and still felt a bit hot but it was nothing compared to what it could have been. Still he found the trek more difficult today. Grimmjow clearly did too. Ichigo couldn't imagine getting all this distance in that time, let alone carrying him. And now on top of it he had cracked ribs and a concussion. He still wore his sword but it was clearly causing him pain.

"Grimmjow—"

"What?" he barked back over his shoulder, annoyance etched in every line of his body. Ichigo decided against thanking him right now.

"Just, how far do you want to travel today?"

"As far as we can get."

They didn't speak again that day. This city was buzzing with dangers ranging from low infrastructure, leaking sewage pipes and weapon wielding gangs. Many groups in the shadows watched them pass. They must have known who Grimmjow was, because every time they passed them there was a buzz. Grimmjow never cast them a sideways glance, nor showed a hint of his injuries. If they were lucky, the groups would decide he was too dangerous to mess with, even if they knew how much he was worth.

"We need to get out of here," Grimmjow said at dusk when Ichigo hoped he would slow down and let them find a place to sleep. Ichigo glanced around, looking for the danger Grimmjow spotted.

"Why?"

"Too many people were interested in us as we went by. We need to get clear of here before we stop."

"Great." Ichigo kept his eyes sharp even though the darkness didn't allow him to see more than a few feet ahead. They were still in the city trying to get back to a highway. From Togichi they could have taken a route close to the sea but now they were a full day from that highway and so they were committed to this route cutting inland and upward through the island countre. Ichigo always took the sea route so he hoped Grimmjow knew the way.

"There." Grimmjow saw the giant square shapes ahead—signs that indicated a turn off onto the highway. They must have walked the entire length of the city to only have come across it now. Grimmjow pressed forward, following street signs to get them where cars once drove over a hundred kilometres an hour. Farther out still, bullet trains would have gone three or four times as fast.

"Come on," Grimmjow urged him to pick up his pace. Ichigo looked around again, now sure that Grimmjow must be aware of something he wasn't.

"Stop!"

His question was answered. Grimmjow let out a low curse and reached for his sword. A shot went off right next to his feet, sending sparks over the pavement and jolting them both in the sudden noise. Grimmjow froze.

"I said stop." Their attackers came from all sides. Grimmjow must have been aware of them closing in. Perhaps he had also guessed they had a gun, because otherwise he would have fought them. Ichigo waited at his side while the men emerged. In this world of plain old human physics, there wasn't a whole lot you could do against a gun except get killed by one.

"You're Jaggerjaques." They were close enough now to see. Hoods, leather, chains—the general indicators of people who had embraced their post-apocalyptic universe. They loved every minute of torturing others with fear and pain. Now they ringed them in, the sky so clouded they were still barely more than shadows when they were three feet away.

The man who addressed them held the gun. Guns were the first thing to get snapped up in the riots and pandemonium after the Clash. Now, four years later, it was hard to get your hands on one that still worked, and even harder to find the right bullets to go in it. But they had already fired a shot, so this one was definitely real. The question was, how many in the group were armed.

"I'm a fan." The man's face was tattooed with a pair of black snakes twisting down his cheeks and meeting at his chin. Those were the skill of pre-apocalypse artists—so this man had likely been a gang member even before the end of the world.

"Great, I'll give you an autograph and be on my way." Grimmjow showed no sign of fear except that he kept his hands where they were, indicating his apprehension of the gun. The man noted this too.

"Interesting, how one weapon can change things."

"You mean make a balless coward think he's a man—yeah you have a point."

The head-butt dropped Grimmjow to his knees. He launched himself up again but his arms were caught by other gang members and they wrestled him back down, shoving him face first onto the ground at the same time that others grabbed Ichigo. They were less interested in him, as he wasn't the known powerhouse in the situation but they were weary enough to serve him a breath stealing kick to the gut before shoving him to his knees.

One of the men on Grimmjow backed off so their leader could move in. He pushed the barrel of the gun against Grimmjow's skull.

"I actually enjoy watching you fight. So give me your cash and you can go."

"I'll give you a personal show, right here. Just you and me, you'll have the best seat in the house as I beat you to fucking death."

"Well, it will be a personal show, if you don't give up the money willingly. And if that doesn't work, I'll kill you, and look in all the dark places."

"Fuck you."

"Wrong answer."

Despite the threat of the gun, Grimmjow fought them when they stripped him, trying to throw fists and elbows even as they yanked his coat and shirt over his arms. His bare torso scraped against the dirty pavement as he continued to struggle. They noted the bandages and someone served him a cruel kick right between his shoulder blades where the crowbar had struck him. He forced himself not to cry out but it stole his breath and they were able to get their hands under him to undo his belt.

Ichigo watched on in shock. Even after everything that had happened to him in the forsaken world he had already started to think of Grimmjow as invincible after the few days he'd spent in his company, especially combined with his reputation as the deadliest hand to hand fighter in Japan. But what he was watching right now proved that even the deadliest warrior wasn't safe on the streets, in this broken world. Even Grimmjow could be brought down by the threat of a bullet to the head and made to lay face down in the dirt.

It enraged the young man almost forgotten in the hold of two men.

Ichigo stood up, quick and sharp, catching one man in the nose with the back of his skull and driving his boot into the other man's knees. Both let go enough Ichigo slipped out of his coat. He ran straight at the gang leader. He had been watching them all, the way they held themselves, the position of their clothing—none of them had a gun, only this man.

Ichigo slid under the legs of one tall gang member and popped up right in front of the leader. Snake-face had been enjoying Grimmjow's humiliation too much to see the attack coming and so Ichigo toppled him with a knee to the face.

The gun went off.

Grimmjow cried out.

Ichigo's heart lurched, realizing his stupidity in attacking while the gun was still on Grimmjow. He couldn't assess the damage now though, he had to finish this before the others overtook him. He grabbed snake-face around the neck and drove his head back into pavement. Someone kicked Ichigo in the leg and he rolled off the leader but the man wouldn't be getting up after that. He caught one man's wrist before his dagger could connect with flesh. Ichigo twisted sharply and broke his wrist as well as freeing the weapon which he didn't hesitate before throwing back into the shoulder of another man.

A roar to his left warned another attack was coming but he saw the man to his right picking up Grimmjow's sword. Ichigo broke left, intending to down this foe before dealing with the blade but he was struck in the jaw, spun and grabbed from behind, pinning him in place so the sword could easily impale him.

"Shit." He'd made a mistake. Now it was all over.

The bang went through him as if the bullet went through his own chest. Then the thunder split the night over and over and one by one the gang members collapsed with mortal wounds.

Ichigo fell when the weight of his captor pulled him over. He struggled out of his dead grip and got back to his knees.

He met Grimmjow's eyes in the night. He was half naked and shaking. Ichigo instantly remembered the gunshot.

"Shit, Grimmjow are you hit?" He crawled over to him.

"What?" Grimmjow squinted. His shaking hands dropped the gun. The clip was empty.

"Are you hit?"

"I can't fucking hear you," Grimmjow spoke overly loud. Ichigo looked him over then grabbed his face and forced it to one side. His ear was bleeding.

"You're not hit," he sighed. "Busted your eardrum." But his relief was short lived when Grimmjow fell back on the pavement. He groaned and blinked hard.

"You have a concussion," Ichigo explained, even if Grimmjow wouldn't hear him. "They head-butted you then the shot went off. No wonder you're dizzy."

Grimmjow shut his eyes, Ichigo could tell he was trying to make the world stop spinning.

"Come on." He rolled Grimmjow onto his side in case he threw up. Then he struggled to get his clothes back on him.

Grimmjow could barely sit up when it was time to get his shirt and jacket back on. He swayed where he sat and Ichigo caught him twice before he fell back again. His equilibrium was shot. He couldn't get his balance when Ichigo put an arm under him and made him stand. He couldn't let him go or he'd fall so they walked like that, Ichigo's arm around his waist and Grimmjow's around his shoulder. It was like walking a drunk person home from a party. They staggered over the road, Girmmjow's superior weight pushing Ichigo off kilter with them.

Ichigo knew they had to stop until Grimmjow got sorted. He vainly thought of the kind chemist and how much better off they would have been if they'd spent another night on her backroom mattresses. He cursed his luck until he spotted the sloping hill. It wasn't really shelter but if they could get over the guard rail and slide down the bank they'd be out of sight at least.

When they almost face planted after another bad stumble, Ichigo knew it was their only option. He pulled them over to the side and half shouted at Grimmjow to step over the rail. He must have heard out of his good ear or at least seen what he had to do because he managed this. They fell going down the bank but at least they made it to the bottom. Once there Ichigo saw there was a bit of overhang from the concrete above so he got Grimmjow propped in there and sat next to him. The espada was breathing hard, blood coursed from his broken nose, his eyes were unfocussed.

"Fuck," he grabbed Ichigo's arms to pull himself up again. He got upright just in time to throw up. He collapsed back against Ichigo after and went completely limp.

"Fuck," Ichigo repeated the sentiment.

Grimmjow was breathing evenly. There nothing more he could do but lean back against the bank, Grimmjow passed out against his shoulder.

* * *

_**Thanks for the reviews! I've been busy with my summer job so my updates might be a bit sporadic.**_

_**Riza**_


	5. Chapter 5

Grimmjow woke with a hand sealed over his mouth, his head half on Ichigo's chest. He made to shove the hand away but then the ear that wasn't ringing caught the tones above.

"They said they were going after Jaggerjaques and now they're all dead."

"Yeah but one guy couldn't get all them, even Jaggerjaques."

"There was someone else with him."

"Who?"

"Dunno, just a kid."

"Fuck. Then what the Hell are we doing out here?"

"'Cause I heard he dropped a fucking boat load of cash at the chemist's."

"Then go take it from her."

"Yeah and have her shoot me up with poison next time I need something."

"Touché. Fine, then where do we find the blue haired bastard?"

"They were headed North. Let's go."

There had only been two voices but many boots stomped down the road. Ichigo slowly released Grimmjow. The other shoved away and sat on his own, but held his head and took a moment to get oriented.

"How are you doing?"

"Fucking great," Grimmjow growled. He straightened his clothes which were covered in dirt from the previous night's incident. He must have been remembering what happened because he only got angrier.

"Those bastards."

Ichigo gave him a moment, not wanting to ignite a blow-up of anger.

"So you can hear?"

"Obviously." He didn't say there was a high pitched ringing going off on his right side.

"And your concussion?"

Grimmjow used the bank to help him stand. He staggered but stayed upright.

"Good enough," he concluded.

"Grimmjow we can take some time to rest." As much as Ichigo didn't want to waste a second getting to his friends, he also didn't want them to stumble into more trouble because of Grimmjow's wounds.

"No. I have a deadline."

"The Market will be going on for days."

"I gotta register for the fight at the start to get in on the big pot."

"Oh come on, Grimmjow, look at you, you're not in the shape to fight now."

"I will be in a fucking week. You do realize how far we still have to go and how much time we've already wasted?"

"Well maybe you should give them your cash next time so we don't end up in a fight we can barely win."

"It's _my_ fucking cash."

"Is it worth your life?"

"What isn't worth your life in this damn world?" But the words rang untrue, because at the sight of the gun yesterday, Grimmjow had frozen. He might talk shit, but he didn't want to die—at least not that way.

Anger boiled between them for a long time. They walked below the highway for now, avoiding the fights that certainly waited for them if they returned to plain sight. By noon Ichigo's anger had simmered and eventually cooled off enough for him to ask a question that had been bugging him.

"Grimmjow where _is_ your money?"

Grimmjow shot him a look. "None of your fucking business."

He let it go. At least the guessing game was something to think about. Grimmjow needed a break shortly after that. He of course didn't say anything, but he tripped on some loose gravel and barely caught himself.

His head must have been killing him but again, he'd never say anything. Ichigo pulled out their canteens and some food so as to force them to stop. Grimmjow sat heavily and didn't eat anything. Ichigo savoured some beef jerky and a little bit of water. He took his time, hoping Grimmjow would take advantage of the breather, but after only a few minutes he stood and ploughed forward again.

They veered away from the highway when their path became too cluttered with junked cars and rough terrain. Grimmjow said he knew the way well enough they could leave the main travel route for a day at least before having to go back. It wasn't ideal. If it were to rain—not drizzle but really pour in the deadly torrential bouts that struck once or twice a month—they'd be caught unprotected.

But they weren't really in the shape to get caught up in any more fights either.

They picked their way between the debris of broken shacks. Ichigo had seen enough of these to known they'd filtered through from Soul Society and landed here. Their inhabitants had left them long ago, none were even intact enough to house anyone. It slowed them down. They came across some bones, Grimmjow noted their freshness and told Ichigo wolves had picked them clean. He pulled out his sword but it went unneeded. They camped when they found an open plane. It was impossible to guess what world it was from, but there was nothing but hard ground and a few bushes: Nowhere for enemies or wolves to hide. Grimmjow hacked at a bush until he had enough wood to make a fire. He lit it up with a lighter and dug in their bag for food.

They warmed pasta soaked in tomato sauce. It wasn't half bad. They let the fire burn—the night was cold and they each had wounds to check. Ichigo rolled his shirt up and saw in the flickering light that his stitches were holding, his skin looked to be mending itself back together. Grimmjow would have to pull the stitches back out soon.

Grimmjow was slow to pull off his jacket. It was clear that space between his shoulders was hurting him. Ichigo moved around the fire and helped pull his jacket down. He was sure Grimmjow would have cursed him and told him to leave him alone if he could catch his breath but it seemed just this motion had brought on quite a bit of pain. Ichigo pulled his shirt off of him without invitation. Grimmjow took a steadying breath and Ichigo saw the terrible bruising under the bandages. They were loose, he should have fixed them after the fight but he hadn't.

Grimmjow lay on his stomach when instructed. He must have hated needing help but he swallowed back his pride for the sake of healing faster so they could move faster. Ichigo unwounded the cloth. He sucked in his breath at the sight of the bruises that had developed since both fights Grimmjow had been in.

"Shit, Grimmjow."

"Nothin's broken," he responded.

Ichigo brushed his fingertips over the purple flesh to assess the swelling. Grimmjow went rigid at just this light touch. He'd carried his bag on one shoulder and his sword in one hand all day—now Ichigo knew why.

"I think I should leave the bandages off until morning, they might be cutting off circulation and worsening the swelling." On the other hand, Grimmjow needed the support to his ribs but he should be fine while sleeping. "Just let me check your chest."

It was painful for Grimmjow to roll over. He couldn't put the pressure on his back so he had to sit. His front was all cut up from being shoved in the pavement. There was some discolouration around his ribcage but nothing too serious so Ichigo let him lay back down. He rested on his side, his pack used as his pillow and his sword ever clutched in one hand.

"You alright?"

"Just great. Where's my jacket." Ichigo handed him his coat and Grimmjow pulled it up over his naked tosro. It seemed he didn't have the will to struggle back into it or his shirt.

"Should we douse the fire?"

Grimmjow shook his head, eyes already drooping. "It'll keep the wolves away."

"And what about people?"

"We'll fucking kill 'em." His eyes were shut, he was exhausted. Ichigo let him drift off. He'd keep himself half aware like he had for so long on his own.

* * *

Grimmjow grit his molars as Ichigo wrapped up his rib cage just after dawn. Their fire was dead; a new day was upon them; they geared up and moved out.

Ichigo carried their bags for the day, Grimmjow kept his sword in hand. They veered back toward the highway and Ichigo noted that they had crossed from Tochigi prefecture into Fukushima. A sign told him they were thirty kilometres from Shirikawa, the next hub. He gazed out on the expanse of broken towns that lined the highway here. In many places these districts had been consumed by parts of other worlds—mostly sand but here they found themselves surrounded by an endless horizon of broken buildings void of life.

"I haven't been through here in almost four years."

"Most people take the ocean view over this," Grimmjow agreed. "But I came this way less than a year ago."

"So what's in store for us?"

"Alot of this. Alot of scavengers waiting to pick off people on the highway. It's not the most pleasant of trips," he grunted, eyes ever searching for danger. Those blue orbs seemed clearer today, Ichigo hoped that meant his concussion was improving.

"It's Junction City that will be the tricky part. You ever been there, kid?"

Ichigo shook his head. He knew what Grimmjow was referring to: he meant where the Tohoku expressway down which they were traveling, and the Ban Etsu expressway intersected. These were the two main travel routes between Tokyo and the northern cities. So of course, that intersection had become one of the most populated, and dangerous places in the country. Ichigo had skirted around it, taking days to get from one piece of highway to the other by cutting through desert or other districts of the city. It was aptly named Junction City, and encompassed the entire area around the crisscrossing roads and ramps of highway.

"I fuckin fought there for three months one time the money was so good," Grimmjow continued.

"Then why did you leave?"

"A band of Vandenreich showed up. I killed them but there was a little too much heat."

"Does that happen much—that you get recognized as an espada?"

"Not much now."

"Do people know what you were?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "Some do I'm sure."

"And what about people coming after you for your money? Does that happen much?"

"Just on the road. Once I'm settled, I'm good."

"Cause you're looked after." Grimmjow turned at the challenging tone. "Well, you are, aren't you? Isn't that how it works—you fight, you win, you take _half_ the pot and the big boss in town takes the other half. The gamblers need you alive, so they keep trouble off your back in the cities as much as they can. Isn't that right?"

"It's a living," Grimmjow responded curtly.

"You're the one who risks your life and they still get half your cash, I thought that would eat you alive."

"You know what eats me alive? This fucking world with no power. Bound to the ground. Pantera gone forever. That's what kills me kid, I can live with all the other bullshit."

He picked up his pace, leaving Ichigo to catch up.

Ichigo had been caught off guard by the statement, but in many ways it rang true to his character, and it helped Ichigo understand the person he'd become in this world. Grimmjow had always been a survivor. He was pissed at the circumstances, but he'd found a way to survive and he'd do whatever it took to keep things that way. Ichigo wasn't sure if he respected that or not, but it was what it was, so he caught up and they continued on.

* * *

"You're really going to have to keep your head down when we get to town," Grimmjow said when they saw the sign for the junction looming in the dark.

Grimmjow had refused to stop. He said it would be better to arrive at the Junction at night than risk sleeping unprotected anywhere near it. Though the junction was the heart of the city, it was a sprawling mess of a population and they wouldn't get clear to the other side in just one day. Grimmjow said they would have to put up with slowing down in order to get through without trouble.

"I'll do one or two good fights and we can grab a good night's sleep in a decent place. Then we book it before dawn. Got it?"

"Got it."

"You do nothing. You say nothing. You sit in the room and let me do my thing."

"But—"

"No arguing. We play this my way."

"Fine."

"Good." Grimmjow put his sword back on. He was still sore but he wasn't going to show an ounce of weakness upon entering this place.

The most notable thing about Junction City was the electricity. Shanghai still topped any other city on the globe for its power output, but Junction held its own in the flood lights that cast up the sides of buildings, the neon signs and flashing billboards. It was extremely wasteful, there was no arguing that, but the whole city was wasteful in a world where resources were precious. They were famous for their nightclub that probably consumed the most energy in the place. There, the party never ceased, lit up with dancing, colourful lights at night and serving anything that would get a person drunk or high.

There were many reasons Ichigo avoided this place.

They left the highway. The actual junction was now just a pile of broken tar and concrete that had not survived the Clash. They didn't even see it in the dark, but instead headed for the purple and blue lights that roamed up the side of a building.

"Where do they get all the power?" Ichigo asked.

"Infrastructure survived here a bit better, but I don't really know the first thing about electricity."

Ichigo nodded, not really sure what the espada knew about their world. Clearly he'd learned what he'd needed to get by. The way he killed those men the other day showed he knew how to shoot a gun, though surprisingly he didn't carry one. He had called the other man cowardly for using one, perhaps his honour as a warrior prevented him from choosing such a weapon.

"Hey, if we're lucky we might get somewhere with running water."

Ichigo almost came to a stop at this. A shower? Could anything so mundane and yet so wonderful still exist in this world? He hoped so, and he suddenly felt eager to follow Grimmjow into the thick of the city and see what else they had in operation.

It was nothing like what Ichigo had seen in other cities. The whole place was like one downtown nightclub. The streets were packed with exotically dressed people, women in low cut dresses with thigh-high boots, men walking shirtless, leather trousers, chains. It was humid here, different from the cold nights on the road or in the desert. Here, the tightly packed mass of people generated enough heat that steam rose up in some areas. Ichigo was reminded of futuristic movies from the eighties, where everyone dressed in revealing leather with extreme make-up and hair. He felt glaringly normal amidst the crowds.

They passed by vendors of all kinds, from clothing, to prostitutes to food. Grimmjow stopped them at a stall for the last option. He pulled Ichigo under the canopy of the once mobile food vendor and they sat on stools. Lanterns lit up the interior—not everything in this place could afford electricity. The vendor sold them indistinguishable stew and a pair of beers. Grimmjow drank both beverages as Icihgo devoured his food. It must have been half salt to mask the taste of less than fresh meat but it was delicious to him.

From here it didn't take long for Grimmjow to get recognized. Ichigo saw some people point, others make gestures about gambling, and then a man in a suit jacket pushed his way toward them. Grimmjow must have recognized him because he stopped to meet him.

"Jaggerjaques, Master Haido wants to see you."

"About a fight, I hope." Grimmjow pretended to be here for nothing but the money he could earn in the ring.

"Glad you're interested, come with me."

They followed a few steps behind, enough that Grimmjow could explain the situation to Ichigo.

"There are three major arenas in town," he whispered. "Haido is the one I was hoping would approach me, we've done business before so everything should go smoothly. Just don't say shit about leaving."

"Alright."

"And keep your damn face covered." Grimmjow yanked Ichigo's hood over his head, but they were pretty safe. Ichigo's hair was long enough now he had it pulled back in a ponytail, and the fact that it was black changed his looks significantly. He was also now travelling with a practical celebrity when he was known for his seclusion and isolation. He was fairly confident in the disguise, and Grimmjow must have been too to bring him to the base of a glowing hotel, the sides lit up and flashing like something out of Las Vegas.

Inside the lights glowed low—apparently the system couldn't support full lights on the interior _and_ exterior but it may have been by choice as it added to the atmosphere inside the smoke filled lobby of the grand hotel. The floor was all white tile—or at least it had once been white—and the ceiling was arched and open for at least three stories. A buzz of people filled the lounge area, Ichigo heard glasses clinking in the restaurant off to one side. Music blared from speakers set up on what had once been the check-in counter.

"The last fight of the night is just wrapping up." Their guide informed them, taking them from the main foyer down a corridor. Ichigo read the sign for a pool. That was indeed where they were headed, though no water filled the deep basin now. Instead, it was stained with blood and two men writhed against each other on the floor. Both their bare backs were scraped and bruised. Sweat glistened over every inch of their bodies. They were knotted together so tightly neither could get the leverage to punch or kick the other and disengage.

Ichigo hid his disgust at the sight. Over a hundred men ringed the pool, shouting down on the pair. They were in the deepest part of the pool, at least eight feet down. The floor and walls were still painted with blue lines that divided the pool into sections. For half its length it sloped from the shallow section to the flat pit where the two men where now. The walls were cracked and mouldy. The floor was slick with drinks that spilled from the men above and the body fluids of men who'd fought to their end down there.

And that's where Grimmjow planned to go.

Someone got their teeth in flesh. There was a cry, the men struggled more furiously and then they separated. Ichigo could see blood coursing down from one man's ear. The other spit flesh onto the floor. Ichigo fought not to gag. The wounded man held the side of his head and raised his hand against the next attack. There was a terrible snap as his arm was twisted and broken. He screamed and collapsed to his knees. The other man came up behind him and grabbed his chin. The man gave a wail, knowing what was coming, then his voice cut short, he fell in a spine-broken heap.

The winner made a crude humping gesture over the form of his fallen enemy then raised his hands in the air in victory. Everyone cheered—well, all save Ichigo and Grimmjow. The man who'd escorted them had stepped away and now Ichigo saw him below the old lifeguarding chair where a man sat with a megaphone in hand. He himself was not the boss—that position was probably too vulnerable, but below him there was a heavy set man in a white suit who gave a nod to Grimmjow. Grimmjow nodded back and Ichigo was sure that must be Haido.

The man with the megaphone called out the name of the victor in the pit—Kaito. Then he announced that said man had gone undefeated for over a month of fights. Ichigo shot Grimmjow a look of concern but his expression never changed. Then just as people started to notice the blue haired fighter among them, the announcement rang out that an old challenger had returned to the city and tomorrow night would be the epic show down between Kaito and Jaggerjaques. A roar of excitement rang out. Over the cheers the announcer called that the bet would be a minimum of ten thousand yen. At this, Grimmjow grinned, knowing his half of the winnings would be substantial. Ichigo did not smile. He was looking at the animalistic man in the pit below who was looking at Grimmjow in a way that said he would eat him alive tomorrow night.

But then they were taken away, back out to the bar. Drinks were given to them, Grimmjow sloshed several back, he got many respectful claps on the shoulder, others shot him glares filled with imaginary daggers. The victor of tonight's match arrived after cleaning up. He elbowed his way to the bar, clearly annoyed the crowd's attention was now split between the pair. Bets were already being laid, people were watching everything Grimmjow did to see if he was still as strong as the last time he'd been here.

"Who's the kid, anyway?" Their guide had finally introduced himself as Keiran. He hadn't left their side and Ichigo could tell he was on Haido's orders to keep an eye on them.

"He works for Sabian down South, working out the odds. I was promised a hundred percent of my winnings if I let him travel with me to check out other fighters until I get back down there for a fight."

"Good deal."

"Wouldn't have agreed to it otherwise."

Grimmjow had gone over this cover story a while ago. Ichigo was well prepared for any questions if they came but they didn't.

"Should I show you to your room?"

"Sure."

Grimmjow set down an empty glass and Keiran took them up several flights of stairs to the tenth level.

"Rest well, then." Keiran bowed out when he showed them to a suite.

Ichigo gaped at the luxuriousness of it. Grimmjow tried the lights. They were as dim as the ones below. Next he tested the shower. It was a weak drizzle but it was still amazing to Ichigo who leaned in the doorway.

"Go ahead," Grimmjow said to him. "I'm crashing."

"You think we're safe?"

"Safer than anywhere until that fight."

"Alright then."

Grimmjow left him to the shower. Ichigo shut the door and stared at the room around him. It wasn't pristine, but it was five star in his books. Someone had hurriedly wiped down the sink and toilet, the shower and mirror. He turned the tap of the sink and let cold water course over his hand. He laughed out loud. The sound startled him as it bounced off close walls. He looked up at his own face in the mirror. It had been a long time since he'd seen it, clearly anyhow—he'd done his best to decipher his new look in t.v. screens and dark windows. But now he had a clear canvass on which to view his countenance. His face was rough and needed shaving. He'd take care of that so it didn't reveal his red hair. He was surprised how much the black hair suited him. His skin was tan from long days of walking under the sun, he could be a different person entirely from the orange haired teen who'd stumbled onto the spiritual world all those years ago. He never could have dreamed it would lead him here.

He let out a sigh and washed his face, pulled the razor from his backpack and started with the shave. He was eager for the shower and cut himself once or twice on the dull edge of the blade. He didn't care. The tumble of water on the shower bottom was too thrilling. Even at the low pressure it was a sensation he hadn't thought he'd ever feel again. A bar of half used soap awaited on the shelf in the shower along with a cloth. The water was ice cold and a bit brown. Neither fact took away from the freshness he felt as it washed over dried sweat and dirt that patterned his skin. He took the cloth and lathered it. Soap glided over his skin, he covered himself, scrubbed, rinsed and repeated the whole process two more times just because he could. His long hair snaked down just past his shoulders when it was wet. He towelled it and the rest of his body off, feeling unbelievably clean and relieved. He returned to the bedroom craving those sheets no matter if they were stained or smelled of cigarettes. He rolled into them half naked, not having the heart to cover his clean body in filthy clothes. He dropped his wet head against the pillow and drifted off with what was almost a smile on his face.

* * *

**_Sorry if you found this to be a slow chapter but I think Ichigo and Grimmjow deserve a bit of a break, haha. I actually spent a lot of time on Google Earth going through the places mentioned in this fiction and it was really interesting to see Japan on street view so if you ever have time to spare I recommend it! Next time Grimmjow faces of with Kaito and Ichigo experiences the life the espada has been leading since the Clash._**

_**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**_

_**Riza**_


	6. Chapter 6

"Damn." Grimmjow shut the door after a brief discussion with Keiran. It was just before noon, both Ichigo and Grimmjow had slept late and now he was still wrapped in a towel after his shower. He came back from answering the door scowling.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked.

"Haido invited you to sit next to him at the fight and he wants to meet you to discuss the way the arenas are run in the South."

"Well you told me everything so I can do that."

"You were supposed to stay in here and keep you fucking head down."

"Well, I'll just have to keep my head down out there then."

"Shit." Grimmjow grabbed his clothes. "Well then you might as well come with me. We're going shopping."

"Shopping?"

It was exactly what Grimmjow meant. He took them out of the hotel and down a few streets until they came to a mall. The entrance was guarded but the men recognized Grimmjow and let them pass. The once glass ceiling was shattered and now the floor was over taken with debris and puddles of stagnant water but off the main corridor many old shops were still clear. They were of course in complete disarray, but still full of clothing and other goods.

"Why isn't this place picked clean?"

"Because Haido moved in fast. He blocked off the mall and got some goons to guard it. Now you have to be on his good side to get access. And this way people don't make off with it to sell somewhere else. Haido ain't dumb."

"So he let you in?"

"Our clothes stink, kid, and he wants you to sit beside him and me to socialize before the fight so yeah, he's cool with us restocking."

It was an opportunity Ichigo hadn't had—to take his time and pick clothes that fit, not just grab whatever was wearable and then run as far as he could get from civilization.

He chose new clothes to change into now and another set that he could fit in his bag. A black sports jacket fit him much better than the tattered one he had been wearing. He also took a hoodie and two pairs of cargo pants. Last he got boots—this was probably the best find in the whole store. He was careful to get ones that fit just perfectly. He strapped his other ones onto his bag just in case. He tucked his pants into his boots and looking at himself in the mirror he decided his outfit had a somewhat military look to it. That might not be a bad thing—anything that made him look strong and more intimidating would help.

Grimmjow had also found a clean set of clothing. Black jeans, new belt, white undershirt tucked in while a flannel shirt hung lose under a light jacket. But on top of it all, he put on his old coat.

"Why are you keeping that, you could get a new one?"

"I like it," he said shortly.

Ichigo eyed it. "You sewed your money in the lining didn't you?"

Grimmjow's eyes widened, then he grabbed Ichigo by the shoulder. "Tell a soul and you're dead."

"I won't. I need your money too for the time being."

"Too fucking right. Come on." He grabbed his bag and in one hand he had a pack of undershirts. Ichigo guessed it was for the fight—anything he wore would get ruined and it would be best not to go in shirtless and showing off the prominent bruise between his shoulder blades. His ribs were nowhere near ready to endure any sort of abuse but Grimmjow assured Ichigo the other man wouldn't land a punch.

* * *

They killed an afternoon very quickly with food and drinks and crowd surfing. Though Ichigo had spent every minute of the past week with Grimmjow, he still had never really "hung out" with him, until today. Now they mingled, they drank, they laughed—well, Grimmjow did, Ichigo didn't have the heart to laugh even when he was faking it.

Evening rolled around all too quickly. Grimmjow showed no signs of worry but Ichigo had certainly been thinking about the fight all day. He went into the back room with Grimmjow when he got ready.

"Do you have a plan or something?" He turned his back while Grimmjow changed.

"Win." Came the short reply.

"Great." He turned back when Grimmjow started doing up his knuckles with boxer's tape. He wore his old jeans and one of the white undershirts from the mall. He ran his fingers through his hair and let it fall into its natural wild state. His chest was broad and muscular, the thin cotton showed off firm abs. He was nothing short of intimidating.

His movements were so calm for someone facing a death match. He did everything with such practiced ease and Ichigo imagined him performing this ritual a hundred times—probably more—to the point he'd killed so many men he'd become famous for it. And this was the man guiding him across the country to his friends. It should repulse him, but all he could feel was worry when Grimmjow turned for the door.

"What if things start to go bad?"

"They won't."

"But if they do."

"Then I'm dead." He made to pass it off but then stopped and turned back to Ichigo. "Don't you fucking interfere, you hear? No matter what, or we're both dead."

Ichigo nodded.

"Good, then you can hold my bag." He shoved his stuffed bag into Ichigo's arms. In it was his clothes but most notably his coat with all the money in it.

"Yeah, okay."

When they moved into the room it was already packed. Ichigo saw that a camera had been set up, hardwires fed into screens and gave them access to the pit but he also followed the lines out to the lobby. A quick glance that way told him it was packed as well. No one was going to miss this fight.

Kaito was already in the pit waiting for him. Grimmjow walked down the slope of the pool. People had been cheering but now they fell silent no matter how inebriated or wild. Ichigo had taken his spot next to Haido. Above them the announcer began the count down to the fight. _Three._ Grimmjow cracked his neck. _Two. _Kaito clenched his fists. _One. _Everyone held their breath.

_Zero_.

Kaito roared as he struck. He was the bigger man, his reach should have gotten Grimmjow first but the espada seemed determined to break the laws of physics despite them being the only laws still at place in this universe. He pulled in his chin and missed the strike by a millimetre but his own struck true. His fist smashed directly into Kaito's nose. The other didn't flinch. He grabbed Grimmjow by the shoulders and drove his knee up. Again, he should have crushed the wind from Grimmjow's lungs but instead Grimmjow used one hand to soften the impact and used the other hand to hook under the knee that came his way. He jerk up and turned sharply and Kaito's back hit the floor. He managed to get his leg back from Grimmjow but the other sprang on him before he could right himself. Grimmjow straddled him and smashed his fist repeatedly into that square jaw. Kaito was stunned, but he'd taken enough blows in his time that he was still able to recover enough to counter attack. He arched his back and threw Grimmjow off balance, caught a wrist and suddenly he was the one straddling the espada.

Ichigo's knuckles went white where they clenched his knees. He watched Kaito's fist connect with the side of Grimmjow's skull. The crowd went wild at the reversal of positions. With Kaito as the bigger on top, it looked like this fight was surely over.

But then the big man suddenly hunched in on himslef. Grimmjow had struck him with flexed fingers right under his rib cage, then his knuckles came square into Kaito's solar plexus. He slumped off of Grimmjow, gasping. The espada rolled back on his hands and kipped up, on his feet before the enemy and he used that to his advantage. A sweeping kick caught Kaito in the jaw. Teeth flew over the floor. The crowd roared. Grimmjow nailed him in the head with his knee, then his knuckles. Kaito sagged against the wall. He was slowing down, but he wasn't dead yet. He caught Grimmjow's next punch and used his momentum against him. Grimmjow hit the wall, bouncing back into Kaito's waiting arms. Kaito caught him by the back of the hair and made to drive his skull into pool tile. But Grimmjow ran with the motion and then threw his weight back as his feet ran up the wall. He rolled out of the hold, leaving behind a few strands of hair but landing directly behind his enemy. He kicked out the back of one knee and then it was him who had a fistful of hair and he drove Kaito's head into the wall just the same way the other had meant to kill him.

He dropped his victim back onto the pit floor. He was still moving slightly. Grimmjow stepped over his broken skull.

Ichigo shut his eyes a second before Grimmjow's heal drove down on and caved in Kaito's skull completely.

Everyone screamed. Some were ecstatic, others looked upset, many were yelling about their wins and other were just enthralled by the blood lust. Grimmjow panted over the body of the man he'd killed, blood ran from his temple and he hadn't come out without a strike like he'd told Ichigo he would but he was fine. He turned his gaze up to the crowds above, accepting their cheers and their curses with a smile that was nothing short of feral and then he raised his middle finger to the body on the floor and walked up the ramp.

He was a fucking god among men.

No one else in this forsaken city could have walked out of that pit with the calm coldness of Grimmjow Jaggerjaques, unwinding the bloody cloth from his knuckles as he made his way up. No one else could have silenced a crowd of unruly, blood hungry men just by passing through them. Ichigo rose to follow him out. Haido caught his wrist.

"He'll join us after, come, I want to show you how we party in Junction City."

* * *

Ichigo had been led to the infamous tower of flashing lights and stacked dance floors in which alcohol and drugs flowed endlessly, people danced to a never ending beat with barely a string of clothing covering them and many back rooms were filled with unseemly acts.

Haido had brought him here to talk trade. They had done that, now they were three shots of vodka in when the dance floor turned into a buzz of fresh energy, women screamed in high pitched voices and flocked to the newcomer.

Grimmjow grabbed ass and drank deep. He didn't refuse a drop of alcohol or cigarettes. Around him the dance floor was alive with almost naked women shaking to the beat.

Ichigo looked away, feeling obscene, but mesmerized at the same time by the sinful place. Haido eventually got Grimmjow away from the bar long enough to give him his winnings and talk business. Grimmjow had been reluctant to let on they were moving on so quickly but the conversation actually turned in their favour.

"It would be best for business if you let me build up another pool of fighters before you kill them all," Haido explained. "You are a big draw but people start to get bored when they know the outcome of the fight before it's over and the betting become skewed. If you come back when I've got a new headliner and give a good show, I promise you a good pot and a place to sleep."

Grimmjow pretended to consider the offer but in reality it was ideal.

"Deal. I'll leave in the morning." They shook. Haido left. Grimmjow sat next to Ichigo and handed him a smoke.

"I don't—"

"Look around you kid—tonight, you do."

He held up the lighter to the end of the smoke. Ichigo sucked back and the end turned orange. He coughed on the tar and chemicals. Grimmjow grinned and slapped him on the shoulder.

"We're in the fucking clear, kid, so relax and enjoy some good old debauchery. I intend to."

With that he left him for a crowd of women who'd been eyeing him from where they danced. It only took a moment before one of them took his hand and pulled him toward a back room. Ichigo knew he wouldn't see Grimmjow for a while. He finished his cigarette. He declined the offer of a beautiful woman but he did watched her dance in see-through cashmere and took another long swig of beer.

He couldn't help but feel the headiness of the atmosphere—the freedom of Grimmjow's world. They were in Junction City, one of the most dangerous places in Japan, they were living like kings and their plan had gone flawlessly.

Ichigo thought he just might understand now why Grimmjow had chosen this life for the past four years.

* * *

_**Little bit of bonding for our boys-hope you enjoyed. Back to the road next chapter!**_

_**Thanks for the reviews,**_

_**Riza**_


	7. Chapter 7

They got up at dawn despite the fact they'd both been out late. Grimmjow had rolled in just four hours earlier and collapsed face first on the bed, pants still half undone. A cold morning shower perked him up and despite the bruise down one side of his face he seemed invigorated after a night of wild abandon. In fact, Ichigo did too. He might not have gotten drunk or had sex, but he felt the same high Grimmjow did as they set off again—the high of victory, of success, and for the first time since they set off on their journey there was levity between them, and they might have actually been mistaken for friends.

They talked. Grimmjow had started by bragging about how hot the woman had been, then he'd slipped into a tangent about this girl he'd met in in the West and the strange town he'd visited there. Ichigo reciprocated with stories of some of the strange places he'd seen in his journey. And from there it just flowed from time and place. Ichigo was particular enthralled by Grimmjow's stories of Hokkaido where he'd gone deep in the Vandenreich territory just because he could.

By the end of the day everything was different. Ichigo suddenly felt like he knew the man beside him. And Grimmjow lay down still laughing about a story he'd told about one ridiculous night in Junction City. And they stared up at the multitude of stars that dotted the night sky and fell asleep.

* * *

They hit Shiroishi the following day. It was their best guess to the half-way point of their journey. Everything had gone smoothly since the Junction. They still walked over broken sections of highway that sometimes got consumed by sand and looked out onto waste lands of crumbling buildings or deserted sections of the Soul Society slums. Twice they had passed white pillars and Grimmjow had explained Las Noches was not the only building in Hueco Mundo. Some were outposts, others were just ancient ruins.

It was strange to talk to him about those times. Ichigo found it almost a relief to be able to talk to someone about the supernatural world that had existed before the Clash, but at the same time he felt like they were unearthing ghosts of the past when they referred to the pre-apocalypse.

Soon enough their conversation turned back to this world. It seemed they'd travelled much of the same territory in Japan and Grimmjow was eager to get any information that was more current than his own. Ichigo told him everything but he didn't have too much new to contribute since Grimmjow constantly heard news in his business.

Eventually they got back around to a topic that had been piquing Ichigo for quite some time.

"So you can you tell me what Rukia was like, when you saw her?"

"Rukia?" Grimmjow shrugged. "She was fine, I guess."

Ichigo sighed. It was hard to express what he wanted to ask. "Well, was she okay?"

"She was kicking ass, so yeah, she was okay."

"Did she tell you anything?"  
"I already told you she didn't."

"I just...never mind."

"Look kid, she's alive, that's more than you knew a week ago."

"True." Ichigo should look at it that way. He nodded. "So what about you, Grimmjow? Is there anyone from before you want to find?"

"No," he said shortly. Ichigo knew the espada were dead but he had wondered if Grimmjow had met up with some other adhuchas or something before the war.

"So what was it like, when you woke up after the Clash?"

"Shitty."

"Yeah I know but...I mean as an espada it must have been confusing."

"No shit. I still find things in this world I don't know what they are. Like coffee—someone gave me coffee a while back—what the fuck, man? Who'd want that shit?"

"Really, you had coffee?" Ichigo couldn't hide the longing from his voice.

Grimmjow smiled. "Humans, you are too strange."

Ichigo was about to counter when they felt a rumbled in the atmosphere. They both looked up to the thick grey clouds above that had been hovering for two days. Now though, they knew what was coming.

"FUCK!" Grimmjow grabbed Ichigo's arm and started to run. They were completely unprotected from the rain that would no doubt strike within minutes. Thunder boomed above, shaking them as they bolted over the sand. The next stretch of highway loomed but it was far off. Shelters dotted the expanse of sand off to their right. Ichigo was looking that way, Grimmjow kept glancing there and then finally he abandoned their course toward the highway and veered off.

Once in the mishmash of buildings Ichigo saw why he might be hesitant to retreat here. The buildings were far from sound and they ran past many that would be insufficient protection against the onslaught.

It hit them just before they got inside. Its force stung their skin even through layers of proectection. Ichigo was blind in the storm but he followed Grimmjow's iron hold and next thing they were undercover in one of the small shacks that had survived from the rukon distict.

"Shit," Grimmjow cursed, shaking off the water but he was already drenched, as was Ichigo. The metal roof clattered with noise, the walls shook in the thunder of rain.

"Jeeze these rains are gonna kill me some day."

"Probably," Grimmjow consented. "Get us all eventually."

The space they were in was just a single room, a pair of bamboo mattresses on the floor and a pit for a fire. They were in luck: there was still wood in the pit.

"Do you have a light?"

"Yeah." Grimmjow handed over the lighter. Ichigo got it burning quicky. Only a bit of smoke stuffed up the room, the rest filtered out a window that was sheltered by the roof. Ichigo stripped down and spread out his clothes and lay them close to the fire. Grimmjow did likewise with his shirt and coat but then paused when he undid his pants. Ichigo wondered why, then when the espada pulled them down over his boxers, he understood.

It was hard not to look at the gruesome scar that slashed through Grimmjow's calf. He had told the story about being burned when Rukia saved him and Ichigo had briefly seen the scar when they'd crossed through the swamp but he hadn't seen it like this, in such clarity. It was clear the whole iron rod must have been red hot when it fell over his leg. It must have seared deep into his flesh to leave such a puckered, miscoloured scar.

For a while, there was silence, then Ichigo dared ask a question that had bothered him for a while.

"Grimmjow, how did you get into the fights?"

Grimmjow didn't give the question much thought. "What do you mean? I needed money."

"Oh, I guess."

"What, you think I should have led a life of seclusion like you?"

"No I...well I don't know what I think."

"That's 'cause you don't even know who you fuckin' are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said. The world went to shit, and you're still trying to be the noble son of a bitch who couldn't save it to begin with."

Ichigo's hands tightened over his bare knees and he met challenging blue eyes over the fire.

"So you think I should give up?"

"On saving the world—yes. You can't let go of what's already gone. You need to find out who you are without all that soul reaper shit."

"I'm not trying to save the world anymore."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm trying to find my sisters."

"You keep telling yourself that. But I see it in you: You still think the universe has one last trick up its sleeve, and if you can find that, you can solve anything, including finding your family."

Ichigo found no words to argue. He lowered his head. "You can't possibly know that."

"I do know that. I know that no matter what good we find, you're still miserable inside because you're thinking about the world you lost. Instead of feeling guilty and trying to save the universe, you need to focus on this world, and what matters in that."

"My sisters do."

"Then live by that. Forget the other shit, kid, it will only bring you down. Just be a brother, not a soul reaper, not a hero."

"How would that be any different than the life I'm leading now?"

"Because finding two little girls in this fucking sandy shit hole is more reasonable than reverting it back to the way it was. You need to cling to what might actually be within your reach."

"Well, I never knew you were so full of wisdom."

"I ain't." Grimmjow shot back. "I'm just tired of spending my time with a delusional brat. You need to see the world for what it is, kid, and not what you want it to be."

Ichigo pursed his lips. He wasn't sure how he felt about what Grimmjow said. He wasn't sure the espada was wrong about any of it.

"Fine," he said eventually. All I want to do is save my sisters. Nothing else."

"Good."

Ichigo poked the fire, embers stirred up and he guessed they'd get another hour of heat from it, enough to dry out their clothes.

"So what about you? What do you focus on every day?"

"Tomorrow," Grimmjow stated simply.

"Really? That's it?"

"What else is there for me to fight for? Tomorrow is all I have. If it ain't worth fighting for, than nothing is."

"Huh." Ichigo let his hands fall back behind him, propping up his weight on the bamboo mat. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am." Grimmjow flattened on his own bed. "Now get some shut eye, we leave as soon as this rain lets up."

* * *

The rain hammered down for half the night. Ichigo fell asleep for short bouts, the thunder of noise constantly woke him and he would just get under the surface and see those frightened eyes, hear his name shouted by a hundred desperate voices and come awake again.

He sat sharply at the end of one particularly vivid scream. Grimmjow was redressing. He watched the young man struggle to calm his breathing. Ichigo didn't look at him and ran a hand through his hair.

"Do you ever sleep through the night?" Grimmjow asked when he fully dressed. Ichigo started gathering up his clothing as well.

"No. Do you?"

Grimmjow smirked at this. "Touché. But I don't have nightmares."

"You just can't let your guard down for that long."

"Exactly."

The rain was just a patter now. "Are we heading out then?"

"We'll give it another hour, make sure it's really over."

They both lay down again, warm in their clothes and the shelter and trying to enjoy it before they had to go out into the cold drizzle.

After the hour was up the rain had stopped completely but a heavy fog rested low on the ground, cutting off their sight completely. They stood at their shack, seeing no more than shadows looming around them.

The sun had just risen, they could hope it would burn off the fog eventually but for now they just had to push on.

"Stay close," Grimmjow warned. It could be bad if they lost each other in this.

Ichigo was worried they wouldn't find their way, but Grimmjow must have had a better sense of direction than him because suddenly the sand was interrupted by pavement and they were back on the road.

They travelled at the ready to bump into violence at every step. Grimmjow's sword was unsheathed and in hand—it was the perfect circumstance for bandits to attack.

The fog didn't lift all day. Moisture beaded along the edge of Grimmjow's blade; their hair was damp and hung heavy as did their clothes. The sun above must have been hot because they both started to sweat in the humidity. The mist was pure white under the rays of the sun. It was over-bright and disorienting in the endless swirl of ground clouds.

They heard people approaching ahead. Grimmjow pulled them to one side of the road and in the dense mist they stood invisible to the travellers who passed by just feet from them. They didn't want to risk a fight in this fog, but it wasn't a fight they ended up getting, it was information. The conversation of the pair drifted toward them.

"...even in Tokyo I heard. I thought those bastards had settled in the North."

"Nah, them damn Vandenreich pop up all over. That shit down in Tokyo was just what they're always doing in other cities. Who cares anyway? It's not us they're after."

"Well who knows who is a soul reaper? I mean, how do they know I'm _not _a soul reaper. I don't want to get killed on one of their cleansing missions."

"No different than any other dangers out there. Besides, I'm not sure it's a bad idea, getting rid of those supernatural freaks."

"Yeah but they were the ones on our side before all this shit happened. Don't forget, the Vandenreich were supernatural freaks too."

"Ah, I don't know, it's all so damn confusing."

"Yeah, but I just can't help but wonder why they're bothering to go around offing soul reapers now."

"'cause they were fighting each other."

"But what's the point? Unless they're clearing the way."

"For what?"

"To take over. That's what they wanted originally, right—to take over this country. They got pushed up North by the Soul Reapers. Maybe now they want to try again."

"I guess so, I just don't see why..."

The conversation was now too far out of range for them to hear. Ichigo looked to Grimmjow.

"What do you think?"

"Dunno. I haven't seen a Vandenreich for ages. What about you? Was it them who stabbed you?"

"No, that was my own kind, unfortunately."

"Well, it doesn't change anything, they know where I am if they want to kill me."

They left it at that. Ichigo wanted to know more, but at this point anything was just speculation.

They travelled another hour before they came across more souls—these ones departed.

"Oh no..." Ichigo stopped when he saw the first body. It was young, a boy no more than thirteen, dressed in ratty jeans a t-shirt swathed in red. Someone had cut him open with a sword. Grimmjow moved ahead of Ichigo and held up his weapon. The fog had begun to burn up but their field of vision was still limited.

"There." Grimmjow pointed to a form just clearing ahead of them. "A store." They took the off ramp into the driveway of the gas station. Another body lay against a concrete barrier, crouched in fear where she died.

"This was less than a day ago." Ichigo recognized the state of decay of the body.

"I'd say twelve hours. The killer's probably gone." He didn't drop his guard at all. They approached the gas tanks and saw that the front door to the store was open.

"Stay out here and watch my back."

Ichigo nodded. Grimmjow stepped inside as Ichigo watched the surrounding area for other signs of life. It didn't take long for Grimmjow to give him the go-ahead to come inside.

"Turns out the killer got what was coming to him."

There were other dead bodies in the shop—it seemed the swordsman had gone a spree—probably just so he could take whatever he wanted from the store. But there he lay, slumped dead across the body of his last victim. His sword still impaled the man who'd been operating the convenience store.

"Shot?"

Ichigo saw the bullet wound through the man's chest. The operator must have shot him in the same moment the killer stabbed him. They'd killed each other.

"Yup." But Grimmjow nudge the operator's hand that look unnaturally twisted. There was nothing in the other one either. "Someone else must have come along and made off with the gun."

"Looks like."

"Well, we got you a sword anyway." Grimmjow yanked the sword back out of the body and handed it to Ichigo. Then he pulled the holster from stiff limbs. "Why didn't you already have one?"

Ichigo took the weapon but didn't put it on. "I just..." how could he explain his unwillingness to kill to a man who killed for a living?

"Just clean that off and put it on." Grimmjow dropped his bag on the counter. "And fill up our food supplies."

"Where are you going?"

"Out back for a piss."

"Great."

Grimmjow ignored Ichigo's disgust at being left to pick past the bodies for salvageable goods. He went around back of the build and stuck his sword tip in the dirt while he aimed at the wall.

His zipper was half way back up when he heard the crunch in the dirt at his back.

Damn it.

He'd dropped his guard.

* * *

_**Until next time! Thanks for your reviews.**_

_**Riza**_


	8. Chapter 8

Grimmjow felt the presence behind him too late. He grabbed his sword and spun, swinging wide, but his timing was off. He hadn't judged the man's distance correctly so the strike was premature and therefore harmless. His sword struck nothing and the man closed the distance before he could bring it up again. All his attacker had in his hand was a small black object. Grimmjow had no idea what it was, but when it was thrust his way, he instinctively threw a hand up to stop it.

Incredible pain tore into him from his palm where two prongs burned into his skin. His body went rigid, he lost his breath and fell to his knees.

When the assault stopped his muscles were weak and his sword was knocked easily from his hands. He looked up at the man again. He was big: thickset and tall. But even with the size advantage Grimmjow was sure he could take him if he could get his body working again.

Grimmjow got to his feet but the other man was already upon him. He tried to block a strike but his body wasn't working right and that small black object came for his neck.

It got him right under the collar bone, and this time everything let go. Searing pain rippled through every inch of his body and his muscles seized beyond his control. He couldn't even scream past his constricted throat muscles, until finally the man let up when he was writhing on his back in the dirt.

Grimmjow gasped and let out a pain-filled noise. He couldn't speak yet, but his eyes were fixed on the object in the man's hand. Seeing he was subdued, his attacker finally spoke.

"I'm guessing you've never been hit with a Taser before. Picked it up off that guy in there, along with this." He now produced the gun that had been missing from the dead man in the shop. "And now I find a prize like you, it must be my lucky day."

Grimmjow rolled to his side and pressed a hand in the ground, trying to right himself. When he finally managed to sit up, he was eye level with the man who had crouched down right next to him.

"What do want?" Grimmjow managed.

"What do you think?" The man looked down at Grimmjow's undone belt and open fly. The espada went rigid before reacting, throwing a fist toward the man.

Ichigo rounded the corner just as the taser came down on Grimmjow again, stinging into the back of his neck and paralysing him once more. He once again collapsed against the ground and Ichigo's screams at the man to stop were all but lost to him.

"I said stop!" Ichigo raised his sword. The pain abruptly left Grimmjow but the cold barrel of the gun pressed tight into his shoulder.

"You come any closer, and I'll shoot him."

Grimmjow was still trying to get his breath. His eyes were watering. His vision blurred. Ichigo stood his ground but didn't advance, wary of the gun. There wasn't much he could do when the man grabbed Grimmjow's collar and forced him back against the cement wall of the convenience store. He sagged where he sat, blinking, then he saw the look on the man's face and lurched forward.

The man caught his punch then stuck him across the face with the butt of the gun. The gun came back to his shoulder as a hand fell against his hip.

"I'll shoot you, and do it anyway, so you might as well cooperate."

"Don't touch him," Ichigo warned.

"Same for you. I'll shoot you after I shoot him. Just leave us alone for an hour and I'll let you both go free."

"Fuck you." Grimmjow finally got out past the chest constricting pain. "Kill him, kid."

"I'll shoot before that sword gets anywhere near me." The man leaned in and his hand reached to Grimmjow's fly.

"KILL HIM!"

Ichigo advanced.

"STOP!" The man screamed. Ichigo halted when the gun moved to Grimmjow's temple. The wounded espada was shaking violently where he was trapped, rage in his eyes like Ichigo had never seen. Ichigo himself was shaking, trapped where he was. It would be easier if the gun was pointed on him, he could take the risk, try to dodge, but there was nothing he or Grimmjow could do to stop the point blank range.

Well, that was what Ichigo thought before Grimmjow reached up and grabbed the main's wrist at his temple.

"Lower your hand or I'll kill you," The man warned.

"Then kill me, you fuck," Grimmjow growled, fingers clenching even tighter over the man's wrist, "because I'll die before I let you do that to me."

Then in one, swift motion, Grimmjow snapped the bones of the man's wrist.

And he pulled the trigger.

Ichigo screamed out in dismay, waiting to see brain matter spray back on the cement wall and the last espada to go limp where he sat.

But nothing happened.

The gun fell on the ground and the man reeled back in pain. He pulled his broken wrist against his chest but with his other hand he brought up the taser once more. It caught Grimmjow under the ribs, lighting him up in agony.

The man's mistake was ignoring Ichigo.

It only took one swipe, deep and clean through the man's back, across his spine. He gurgled on blood, his body went unnaturally slack and he spewed out one last blood filled breath.

Ichigo stared at the body of his victim for a long moment before Grimmjow's pained noises reminded him of the urgency.

"Oh shit, Grimmjow."

He knelt next to him. Grimmjow was in a state, soaked in sweat and shaking from head to toe. The taser was in the dirt. Ichigo shoved it away and got his arms under Grimmjow.

He was a wreck. His eyes watered from the pain, his body shook in the trauma of the electric volts. He seemed to be fighting not to throw up when Ichigo got him sitting. He couldn't stay up on his own. Ichigo leaned back on the wall and pulled Grimmjow against him.

"Just breathe," he instructed, not knowing what else to say. Grimmjow let himself be supported like this but as soon as his hands were working his did his best to do up his fly again. Ichigo watched his fingers shake violently.

"What was that?" Grimmjow managed finally. He let himself go limp against Ichigo's shoulder as he tried to even out his breathing.

"A stun gun, a weapon to subdue people. It should wear off, you should be fine."

"How long?"

"I don't know. You should close your eyes, try to sleep it off."

"Sleep?" he let out a half laugh but it didn't have any of the arrogance of normal. "I can't sleep after that."

"Well you need to get inside. Can you try to stand?"

He just got a nod. Ichigo squeezed his shoulders to help get him up, then he got an arm around his waist. Grimmjow couldn't even lift his head. He let himself be guided inside the store. Ichigo dropped him on the makeshift bed he found in the back room. He peeled back Grimmjow's collar to inspect the puncture wounds. There was minimal blood. The barrel of the gun however, had cut open Grimmjow's face. He'd worry about that later, though, right now he tried to coax the other to pass out.

"I just need a minute," Grimmjow strained out, as if he would have the strength to move again in a minute. "We shouldn't stay here."

Ichigo couldn't argue this—people would soon be by here again and once they saw it was no longer in operation there could be all sorts of problems. But there was nowhere to take Grimmjow while he was in this state.

"I'll keep watch."

"No. Get the gun."

"What?"

"Check under the cash for bullets."

"Grimmjow—"

"Just do it."

Ichigo obeyed but only because it might put Grimmjow at ease. He first checked under the cash. It took some digging but he unearthed a box of bullets hidden in the carved out center of a book. He sighed, because now he had to go outside and face the body of the man he'd slaughtered.

He stood over it, not wanting to reach under the man for the gun he'd fallen on in death. When he finally got the stomach to do so, he looked at the wall the whole time, feeling under the mass of dead weight until his hand closed over the shaft of the gun. He shuddered and stepped away, but he couldn't help take one last look at the man he'd killed.

He didn't feel guilty.

He returned to Grimmjow.

"I got the gun."

He got no response. Carefully he knelt down next to the pile of pillows and blankets that had been gathered to make the bed. Grimmjow's breathing was steady. He was just sleeping. Ichigo locked the door to the back room and loaded the gun. Then he set to work cleaning up the small punctures where the man had driven the stun gun cruelly into Grimmjow's skin.

There wasn't much he could do for the rising bruise and cut on his face but clean off the blood. He sat back next to the bed when he was done, gun in hand, prepared to stay awake until Grimmjow was recovered.

* * *

"Here drink this." Ichigo held the bottle out to Grimmjow but he didn't lift his head from where it was clasped between his hands.

"Did you find Asprin?"

"No."

"Fuck."

"Come on, drink this, you need electrolytes."

"What the fuck are electrolytes?" He took the bottle of sports drink and eyed it.

"Just drink it."

He uncapped the bottle with unsteady hands but downed the liquid without further argument. He'd been slow moving since waking up just before dawn. Now the sun was above the horizon and he wanted to leave but his head and muscles ached to the point he'd actually admitted it to Ichigo. He took a long breath where he sat on the bed, waiting to see if the hydration would make him feel any better.

"Why don't you lay down for a while. No one has bothered us so far."  
"I slept too long already." He set down the empty bottle. Ichigo gave him a hand up. He wavered and held back to the young man.

"Easy."

"I fucking know." Grimmjow's eyes were shut, he was clearly in pain. Ichigo just kept him steady while it passed.

"Come on, this is stupid, let's stay a while longer."

"I can manage."

"Grimmjow—"

"I don't want to stay here." Ichigo watched him for a moment, then consented.

"Then let me take the bags at least."

"I'm taking my sword."

"Of course."

They left the convenience store behind. They hadn't spoken about the incident yet, and Ichigo almost let it slide, but when he saw Grimmjow take a last glance back as if he expected to see someone following them, Ichigo spoke.

"Are you—"

"Shut up."

Ichigo huffed out a breath. He should have known that would be the response. "Fine. But one thing, how did you know the gun was empty when you broke his wrist?"

Blue eyes never left the road ahead. "I didn't."

There was nothing more to say after that. It was a long, slow morning of walking, the air was hazed and as they came upon noon, the sun was almost completely blocked by thick, black air.

"Fire?" Ichigo guessed.

"Looks like."

It became apparent something big was burning the farther they walked. Smoke became thick in the air, their eyes stung and Ichigo halted. Grimmjow didn't argue. They squinted through the dense coverage trying to see what it could be.

"Fuck," Grimmjow finally clued in. "It must be the whole fucking city."

"What? What city?" Ichigo wasn't sure how far along they were.

"Dunno, just everything. There were alot of slums up a head, from the Rukon, but alot of the cities were left too."

"Shit, all those people."

"Explains why no one bothered us at the store. This fire could be huge. Since we just had rain we probably won't for a while."

"It could spread for miles."

"Until it gets to desert."

"Dammit."

They stood there a while longer but it was clear there was no moving forward. Ichigo forced himself to stop thinking about the people in the city and how helpless he was to do anything for them. Eventually Grimmjow called his attention back to themselves.

"We can go east. It's desert, it can't burn."

"Okay." They had no other choice. Ichigo followed Grimmjow off the highway and out into the silver dust. It was even slower going this way, as the sand dragged at their feet. They had to climb up banks of it, and Ichigo knew that this was one of the places where Heuco Mundo had devoured the land and beneath them a whole city would be buried, just like Karakura had been.

It took a long time to get out of the smoke. Even when they were clear of it their eyes were still watering and their clothes were full of the stench of ash. They could only see one black cloud hanging over the area now. It stretched so far that it was impossible to tell just what was burning.

"Breather," Ichigo called, half for himself but mostly because Grimmjow was really slowing down. The other halted without protest and Ichigo produced their water bottles. They sat in the sand for a while, taking a small amount of their water to wash the ash from their faces and clear their eyes.

Grimmjow winced when he ran his hand over the swollen cut on his cheek.

"How are you feeling?"

"How do you think?" Grimmjow growled out. Ichigo regretted asking but then the espada's eyes shifted sideways, staring at nothing but sand, and he spoke in a stiff, unfamiliar tone. "But I uh...I owe you for back there."

Ichigo stiffened. "No you don't, Grimmjow."

"I—"

"I said you, don't, Grimmjow, okay? Just leave it."

At this the espada did turn back to face him. After a moment of silent stare down, he nodded.

They returned to their walk.

It was closing in on evening when Ichigo spotted the spire in the sand. He watched it rise up for some distance, and asked Grimmjow if it was part of Hueco Mundo.

"No, that's from here." When they got closer it became clear the tower was in fact from Earth. Ichigo knew they had climbed up several banks of sand but he was still surprised they were this high up.

"It can't be...is that the top of a building?"

"Looks like. See, there are more." Grimmjow pointed to several triangular shapes sticking out of the sand, some higher than others. It must have just been the tallest of the buildings in whatever city had been buried.

"I can't believe its all under there, under the sand."

"I think Japan got it the worst," Grimmjow commented. "I heard way out east there is no sand."  
"Huh. I wonder what happened to North America. Have you ever heard?"

"I don't think anyone knows." At one time Grimmjow wouldn't have known of the continent but since the Clash he'd learned the map of this world well. "I bet they're over there wondering the same thing about us."

"Probably," Ichigo agreed. "You know I always wanted to go there. It's strange—I travelled to two different universes but I never even left my own country before the Clash. Life is funny that way."

"If by funny you mean totally fucking messed up, I agree."

Ichigo laughed out loud. The sound caught him off guard and he cut it off short. Grimmjow looked at him.

"You know just because the world has gone to shit doesn't mean you have to feel like shit all the time."

"I know but..." Icihgo came to a halt. Grimmjow stopped ahead of him and waited for him to finish. "I just feel—" His words cut short when something shook the sand beneath them and they both went silent, listening to the deep rumble that groaned out from far below.

"Grimmjow...what was that?"

The espada never had a chance to answer. Ichigo locked eyes with him just before he felt the shudder in the sand beneath him and then the ground beneath him gave.

He knew he was going to die, when he fell through crumbling glass and understood what had happened.

They'd been walking atop buildings long covered by sand. They should have considered this eventuality, really, but they hadn't. They'd walked without care over the top of countless buildings who at their top had been designed for aesthetic value. Glass, for example, had crowned many buildings or even been the main component. Ichigo had wrongly assumed these buildings must have been crushed or filled in, but when he fell through the skylight of this one, he realized that in the Clash, maybe the sand had landed in such a way it hadn't broken glass, hadn't devoured buildings.

He certainly came to that conclusion as he hung suspended over the penthouse suite of this building, as untouched as the day the sand had buried.

"Fuck!" The curse above him explained why he hadn't fallen and broken his legs or maybe even died on the floor of the penthouse. He hung in the straps of one of the bags, Grimmjow's hand clenched around the back of it.

"Grimmjow!"

"Just grab something." The desperate voice dropped down on him. He looked up and saw a support beam between panels of glass. He grabbed the iron and took some of the weight from Girmmjow.

"Come on, help me out," Grimmjow pressed, clearly strained by trying to hold Ichigo up.

"Sorry," he grunted out, getting hold off the beam with both hands. With a heave from Grimmjow, he was able to get a grip around the outside of the beam and help draw himself out. He was half way up when a slew of sand slid past him and knocked him down again. Grimmjow had shifted his grip and now scrambled to catch him for the second time. Ichigo swung low into the room, only held up by Grimmjow's vice grip around his wrist. The espada barely managed to keep hold this time as his ribs slammed into the exposed metal bar.

"Shit." Ichigo got his other hand up so he could cling back. He swung in open space, knowing the drop was too much for his bones and body.

"Stop moving!" Grimmjow hollered down. "You're gonna break my fucking arm." Ichigo looked up at him. The way his arm and shoulder angled over the beam he was probably right. If Ichigo swung too much and applied too much pressure against the iron beam Grimmjow's arm would snap.

"Sorry," he said again. "I think I can get up if you help."  
He stretched as high as he could and got hold of the beam again. With Grimmjow pulling he worked his way up. It was still an exhausting, precarious task. When he finally breached the surface Grimmjow gave a strong pull and got him clear of the deadly hole. They collapsed back in the sand. Ichigo breathed into Grimmjow's chest where his head had fallen. Grimmjow's hand was still locked around his wrist. Neither spoke or moved for several long seconds while they regained their composure and their breath.

It was when they sat that they realized they had no time for breathers.

"Oh shit," Grimmjow uttered the unanimous sentiment when he saw the sand draining into the hole before them and felt the rumble beneath their feet. The building had stood here all this time, not a drop of sand inside of it, but now that silver dust was cascading to its interior and the weight was crushing the floor beneath the penthouse. The floor would crumble, then the next below that. Sand would fill countless stories, sucking down from the desert above—and sucking in anything that got in its path.

"RUN!" Grimmjow hauled them up and they were running just as the rest of the glass ceiling gave way beneath them. Sand rushed past their feet like they were running against a current. The slow tide became a whirlpool at their backs and to their horror they realized it wouldn't just stop with that building. One by one, buildings that had maintained their integrity all this time gave to the pressure of the shifting sand. The silver desert became a deadly churning mass both before and behind them.

There was nowhere to run. They would be sucked down into sandy graves in moments.

"Shit!" Grimmjow halted them when the sand before them caved completely, dropping sharply into a black hole of a building. It caught them up and threatened to drag them to their dooms.

"This way!" Ichigo grabbed Grimmjow's hand. Ichigo fought against the sand with everything he had and aimed for the one stable place he could see in this treacherous landscape: It was a flat roof—the only one left exposed. There was no guarantee it wouldn't sink with everything else but by what Ichigo could see of the roof he guessed it was a brick building, made more solidly than those made of gaudy glass. So he ran with all he had for that one landmark in this tumultuous sea.

They made it just as the swirling mass of silver grains dropped violently, sucking down into what might have been a casino or maybe a sports complex—something with a broad, long glass roof that gave all at once and filled with a waterfall of sand.

They collapsed on the hard brick top. Sand still filled much of the roof but an old stairwell poked up and Ichigo guessed it had once been an apartment building. When they caught their breath, they sat up and watched the sea of sand drain around them, filling into countless buildings that had been untouchable until the two of them upset that delicate balance. It was like sitting in the middle of a flushing toilet and there was no guarantee their building wouldn't fall along with the rest.

But Ichigo's guess—or hope—had been right, and as the sand drained around them, their building remained firm, brick holding up against the swirling onslaught.

The world clamed again. They stared out on a completely new landscape, now five stories up from the surface sand.

"Well I'll be damned." Grimmjow finally breathed and gave a whistle. They'd both thought it was there end, but now he let out a laugh so relieved it was the most genuine sound in the world. "FUCK!" He clapped Ichigo on the shoulder with a smile. "How many assholes can say they survived something like that, huh?"

Ichigo stared back at him, still trying to register the fact he was alive. Then, for the first time in who knows how long, he smiled.

"Not many," he consented and surveyed the new-born landscape feeling a powerful surge of adrenaline.

"Fucking right." Grimmjow stepped to the edge of the building, clearly exhilarated from the near death experience. Ichigo joined him on the precipice. They stared out on the setting sun, both breathing hard, filled with the energy of being alive.

"Thanks for the save," Ichigo finally broke the silence. Grimmjow turned to him. He seemed about to say something, then stopped himself and looked back to the horizon.

"Suppose we're even."

"I didn't know we were keeping score."

Grimmjow shrugged. "Damn. I could use a drink after all that."

"Yeah, me too. Come on, we should get out of here before nightfall."

"Yeah."

They climbed down the fire escape still attached to the side of the building and then made their way at double their original pace across the sand. They didn't want to get caught in something like that a second time so they walked well into the night until they hit a slope of sand and slid all the way back to solid ground. The moon was high and cast the world around them in a cold light. They should have been tired but the excitement of the day kept them going for hours still.

They walked onward, now on solid ground in a place in Japan untouched by Hueco Mundo's sand. There was no sign of life, but that might just be because of the night. Still, most inhabited places were along the main highways and places further out had been abandoned so it was possible they really were alone in this untouched town.

They passed by a cathedral. Its spire wound up and reached for the moon. Beyond it graves rose up in perfect, endless rows. They kept going down the street. It was a town Ichigo had never visited. He wasn't sure where they were now and none of the street signs gave him a clue.

They passed through a residential area. Grimmjow kept his guard up but they saw no sign of life. This would be the perfect place to live, Ichigo thought, away from the passing travellers and danger of the rest of the world, so long as one could find a source of food, which was the main problem with staying anywhere but the major occupied areas.

When they passed through the main part of the city or town, they came to a giant shape that gave Grimmjow pause. He stared up at the great oval with many signs still plastered to its side and eventually gave into his question.

"A gladiator ring?"

"A sports stadium," Ichigo corrected and led him past the ticket booth and security gate. They walked through the cement tunnel and came out on the firs level of rows and rows of seating and a wide expanse of unnaturally short grass. Grimmjow walked beyond the bleachers to the field and bent to touch the grass.

"It's not real," he said, mystified.

"It's called turf. It's easier to maintain."

"What is it for?"

"Sports. Football and soccer mainly. People would pay to watch games here."

Grimmjows scanned the bleachers all around. "Like the glads." This would have made a perfect stadium for the glads—in fact, Grimmjow had only seen such places used for gladiator fighting but Ichigo shook his head.

"That's not what they were used for. They were games people played on teams."

"What kind of games?"

"Sports." Ichigo realized how foreign a concept this might be for Grimmjow so he backed up and started from the beginning. He used the lines of the field to help his explanation of soccer. He talked at length about positions and roles of players then told of going to see a professional game with his father and sisters when he was young. Grimmjow listened to it all, fascinated by the whole concept.

"Now they've become glad rings, but it's really an insult for what they were supposed to be." Ichigo concluded.

"It's strange to see one so empty and clean like this."

"Do you go to the glads, Grimmjow?"

"No, too many people are interested in my participation—one way or another." There were two ways to fight in the glads—one as a slave, where you had no choice and little hope of survival and another as a volunteer, who entered the ring well fed and the odds stacked in his favour. If he walked out again, he would get a cut of the money made off the show.

"Good."

Grimmjow looked at him. "Why, would it bother you if I did?"

"Yes," Ichigo answered bluntly. Grimmjow looked of half a mind to make an argument but something got the better of him because he didn't. Maybe he also hated the glads. Ichigo didn't know. What he _did_ know was that they should have gone to sleep hours ago and he was exhausted. This was as good as any a place to make their camp.

"We can go up to the VIP booths and be sheltered." Ichigo pointed up the rows of seats.

"Okay." Grimmjow must have been tired after the events of yesterday. "We need to make better time tomorrow so we'll leave at dawn," he announced.

"Yeah okay," Ichigo agreed, winded when they reached the top step. They got inside the luxury booth and were thrilled to find a pair of couches.

"Good call," Grimmjow complimented, dropping heavily onto leather cushions. He was snoring before Ichigo even settled down.

"Thanks," he sighed long and settled in, wishing for all the world he could look out that window and see the lights one, a soccer game playing and hear his sisters cheering for their favourite team.

* * *

**_Fewf, rollercoaster ride of a chapter, hope you liked it!_**

**_Riza_**


	9. Chapter 9

"Ichigo."

He hadn't heard his own name for so long he almost didn't recognize it. Grimmjow held the side of his face with one hand. Ichigo was still on his side on the couch but he felt the sweat that had broken out over his body.

"Grimmjow?"

"You were screaming." Grimmjow pulled his hand away but remained crouching before the young man, waiting for him to snap out of it.

"...nightmare I guess..." he said eventually, gripping the leather to sit up properly. Grimmjow stood again when he saw he was recovered from whatever memory or dream had shaken him.

"It's dawn," he announced. "Let's eat and go."

"Okay." Ichigo didn't feel much like eating on the heels of the dreams but he did and he drank water. He convinced Grimmjow to give him time to check his wounds. The espada reluctantly removed his shirt and sat still while Ichigo pulled back the bandage at the back of his neck, his collar and under his ribs. They were small enough not to be a big concern but at the same time anything could get infected. Everything looked normal, however, although Ichigo could see deep bruising along Grimmjow's ribs where he'd landed hard against the iron support beam yesterday, saving Ichigo.

"Good?" Grimmjow asked, eager to redress and get moving.

"Yes."

"Alright, let's go."

Neither of them were familiar with the landscape out here. In the sunlight they could see how untouched this town really was and they didn't know why no one was living here.

"Maybe there's radiation or something," Ichigo suggested nervously, knowing there were parts of Japan to be avoided because of unstable power plants.

"Let's hope not." But the explanation must have made sense to Grimmjow because he seemed a bit unsettled as they continued on.

The longer they walked the more uneasy they both felt. The town was just as it had been left four years ago. Stores stood untouched. High rises looked like they had survived the Clash with minimal damage. Sure some litter floated around but everything looked clean.

"Shit can we get out of here already?" Grimmjow was on edge.

"But why is it like this? I mean we're not _that_ far from the main travel route, how could no one be here? Even if it's harder to get supplies it would be worth it to live here."

"I don't know but—"

A canister fell across the road ahead of them and bounced along the pavement, the only noise in the empty street. They watched it roll along until it came to a stop about ten feet from them.

"What the Hell is that?"  
Ichigo was just about to answer when it clicked, gave a hiss, and smoke suddenly surrounded them. They heard the clatter of more canisters and soon they couldn't even see each other. Grimmjow's hand clamped over Ichigo's wrist and he pulled him along but a brutal strike from something hard broke their hands apart.

"Fucking bastard!" Ichigo couldn't see but he was sure now someone was fighting with Grimmjow.

"Grimm—"

The punch came out of the mist and spun him around into waiting arms. He still could see nothing, the artificial smoke made him gasp and cough and his eyes watered. He struggled but he could hear the steady, mechanical-like breathing and knew they had masks on.

"Shit." He got an arm free and tried to pull a mask from one of them but a knee to his gut doubled him and when he went down his hands were forced around his back. Cold metal bit into his skin and he knew he'd been cuffed. Next they forced a cloth over his face and knotted it tight across his eyes. He could see nothing and barely breathed when they hauled him back up to his feet. He could hear Grimmjow cursing and guessed they'd done the same to him. At least they were both still alive, he kept telling himself, although in this world death wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you.

They were shoved along until they were clear of the smoke. Ichigo could at least tell this because he wasn't choking so badly. Once clear someone started barking orders, they must have removed their masks.

"Don't take them any further until we search them."

Ichigo's knee was kicked out. He crashed to the ground and rough hands began feeling through every pocket and layer of his clothing. He clenched his jaw to keep himself from saying anything, bearing through the discomfort especially when hand went under his clothes. Grimmjow clearly couldn't contain himself because he started shouting at them not to touch him. Ichigo heard a few rough strikes and Grimmjow coughed out and struggled to breathe, no longer able to protest.

The search finished with their boots being hauled off. Ichigo felt very vulnerable without them, and now if he were to escape not only would he lose his belongings but he'd have to flee without shoes.

Shit.

They were dragged up again. They must have served Grimmjow a pretty good blow because it sounded like his feet were dragging a bit.

They were forced to walk along quite a ways. Without his boots Ichigo could tell when they left the pavement for a sidewalk, then a grated staircase. They went down, into a basement he guessed. Still they travelled through several doors and corridors. Ichigo wondered if their captors were looping them around or taking them on an overly complicated route to make sure they had no idea where they were.

Finally they came to a halt. The room they were in was hot and humid. Water dripped in one corner, the floor was gritty and felt like cement. But most distinct was the buzz of electricity. Ichigo was almost certain they were in a generator room, the extreme heat caused by the running equipment. Already he was sweating through his layers of clothing. When one of his wrists was released, he had a hope these people were going to free them, but then his arms were forced up above his head and the cuff came back around his other wrist. He shook his hands where they were trapped and felt the hot pipe between them. He stilled so his skin didn't brush against it in case it burned him.

"What the fuck do you want with us?" Grimmjow must have been recovered now, but Ichigo heard another punch.

"Shut up." Someone warned.

"Show them to me." A new voice ordered. They heard everyone else quiet. Clearly this was their leader.

Ichigo tensed, feeling the person circle him. He took his time, his steps careful and slow. Eventually he stopped right before him. Even if he couldn't see him, Ichigo could feel the man studying him, heard his even breaths.

"It's him."

An audible reaction when through the crowd. There were gasps and mumbles.

Ichigo said nothing, knowing if he was identified he was a dead man. The seconds ticked by but eventually the words dropped from the man's mouth.

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

Damn.

"Get him down."

Ichigo was seized. He struggled back but they got his hands undone and wrested them behind his back.

"Kurosaki!" Grimmjow knew as well as he did identifying him was basically a death sentence. It was why he always called him 'kid' and never by his name, but now the game was up. "Fucking run!"

"I can't." Ichigo was still struggling but he was being hauled from the room

"Where are you taking him?!"  
Ichigo bit his tongue from calling Grimmjow's name, it was possible they didn't know him. He was dragged back into more breathable air, leaving the terrible heat of the other room behind. They took him through another maze of a walk until they finally let him go and his shoulder hit a wall. He stood against it, the only landmark he had while blind. He could here other people enter the room. The door shut.

"Kurosaki." The voice was right before him. He recoiled but his face was caught and held between firm hands. "Nice to meet you in person."

His blindfold was withdrawn. He blinked in the sudden light. He saw three others in the back ground but before him was a tall man with a dark complexion. He didn't recognize him.

"Who are you?" Ichigo demanded.

"So you don't recognize us?"

Ichigo gave everyone in the room a second look over but still he saw nothing familiar about them.

"It stands to reason, you were busy fighting above us, in the war."

"Did I fight in your city?" Ichigo asked. Many humans had become able to see spiritual beings after so much exposure when the fighting spilled over into the world of the living.

"Yes, the day you came to our home world."

Ichigo stiffened. They were Vandenreich. He shoved off the wall and tried to bolt past the man. Even though he knew it was futile, it was a reaction to past pains he'd suffered under those who'd pursued him in the past four years. He was quickly caught and the man pushed him face first into the wall.

"You misunderstand me, son." The man leaned in and his hands slid down to Ichigo's wrists. He tried to twist free until he heard the click and the cool metal fell away. "We don't wish to harm you," he stepped back and let Ichigo turn around again. "We owe you our lives."

"W-what?" Ichigo rubbed his wrists and surveyed them, waiting for some trick.

"You saw us for what we were when so many Soul Reapers were ready to decimate us."

Understanding dawned on the young man. "You were the civilians living in their world."

"Yes. What's left of them, anyway. We never had a choice—born of quincies who abandoned earth long ago, but not enough talent for the dreaded King, we served his army our entire lives, never having a choice. And when the war started, the Soul Reapers killed indiscriminately. Just because we were born in that world, they deemed us worthy of death."

"But not you." It was a woman in the back of the room. She had scars all up one side of her face, one sleeve hung empty at her side. "You stopped the Soul Reapers who were attacking us. And then you nearly fell trying to take down our king who'd enslaved us our entire lives."

"We owe you greatly." Another added.

Ichigo was astonished. It must have been clear by the look on his face. "Is it really so hard to believe?" The first man put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Ichigo shook his head, "but most people who recognize me try to kill me."

"Because they are hurt and angry and don't understand what you were trying to do."

"Th-thank you."

"Of course."

"But then why did you attack us?"

"Well, we didn't recognize you at first." His hair, Ichigo had almost forgotten. "And you were with that animal."

So they did recognize Grimmjow.

"He's my companion. Please don't hurt him."

"We don't owe him. He killed as freely as those Soul Reapers did."

"Please, I need him."

"What for?"

Clearly they weren't fans of Soul Reapers, he wouldn't tell him where he was headed but what he said was not a lie.

"He's helping me in my search. I'm looking for my sisters."

"Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki."

Ichigo's eyes widened. "How do you know their names?" The man hesitated. Ichigo gripped his shoulders. "TELL ME! Please, I don't even know if they are still alive."

Still, hesitation. Ichigo knew it. He knew this man knew their fate, and he could see it in his eyes. His stomach bottomed out. His knees gave and he slipped to the floor.

"No, they can't be..."

"Son!"

His heart beat so furiously in his chest he saw black. The last thing he felt was cement striking his face.

* * *

Ichigo woke on clean linens in a beautifully furnished room. His jacket had been removed, he felt something cool across his forehead.

"Son." The man was above him. Ichigo sat and the wet face cloth fell into his lap. "You fainted."

"My sisters..." Ichigo felt sick from passing out but it was nothing compared to the pain in his chest.

"Son I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cause you so much pain."

"Just tell me what happened."

"Kurosaki, nothing happened—as far as we know, your sisters are still alive."

Ichigo's eyes shot up to him. "WHAT?"

"Yes, I'm terribly sorry that my reaction earlier misled you."

"Just tell me what you know," Ichigo pleaded.

"We know the Vandenreich soldiers are actively looking for them—and you."

"Searching for my sisters? I know they've been after me but why them?"

"We're not sure. They either want them to draw you out or they have a value we haven't seen."

"So you've seen them?"

"No, but the Vandenreich have been chasing them, and you can't chase dead girls."

Ichigo took a long steadying breath. It wasn't enough. He sank his head into his hands, his whole body shaking. The man rose and Ichigo heard the clink of glass. The man returned with a strong smelling drink. Ichigo took it but even when he'd taken several sips it was a long while before he regained calm. For so long he searched, the terrible fear that they were dead boiling beneath the surface. Now he got confirmation that they were alive—his precious little sisters had been living in this awful world all this time—but with the news came that they were being hunted.

He was understandably shaken.

"My name is Valkin, by the way." The man introduced himself when he realized Ichigo was going to need some time to process. "I will be in the study, just down the hall, when you are recovered. I ask you clean up, accept some clean clothes, and enjoy a meal. I'll be there when you are ready."

Ichigo didn't even nod. He was too lost in thought, his eyes shut as he held the image of his sisters in his mind. Only when the door shut did he snap back to the present. He'd heard Valkin, but his body was slow to obey. His mind was stuck in the past, his heart still adjusting to this new burden. Yes they were alive. Yes, he would find them if it killed him. But the fact remained he had failed to do so these past four years, and they had suffered untold hardships in that time. Who would they be, when he finally met them again? And could they ever forgive him for what he'd done—failing to save their world, save their father, and even save them in the end.

He shut his eye and held his head. And for the first time in four years, he cried.

* * *

_**Thanks for the very positive reviews from last chapter!**_

_**And to answer a question: this will not become an Ichigo/Grimmjow romance, just a friendship/ bromance**_

**_Riza_**


End file.
